


Where I Belong

by butterfingers



Category: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-04-21 12:56:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14285394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterfingers/pseuds/butterfingers
Summary: Tomorrow is a special day for Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and the First Order. At least it will be if Kylo can stay alive. Hux has made his plans and Kylo has made his counterplans. But of course Kylo’s deadly game goes to hell in a handbasket when Rey shows up...and she’s mad. Mad enough to access the bond they’d both ignored. And she’s just as crafty, powerful, and beautiful as ever. So it was a bad idea to go after her right?This fic has been discontinued and will continue as "We Belong" at https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681426/chapters/36433473. With thanks to my beta reader @colliderofhadron for all your help.





	1. Chapter 1

Kylo stared out the window into the cold of space. It’s vacuum echoing his melancholy thoughts. What do you get the man who has everything? Another mega star destroyer. At least Hux seemed to think so.

“Supreme Leader, I believe you are looking at the solution to the Khalak system,” Hux crowed.

“Perhaps,” Kylo said. “It would certainly be the solution to your need to subdue the Khalakans, General.”

Hux’s smile held more venom than all the snakes of Dagobah.

“Supreme Leader.” A mocking tone made a dangerous foray into Hux’ words. Kylo turned and looked his General in the eye. Hux reigned in all appearance of emotion but Kylo could still feel the burning rage tinged with fear within the man. Snoke must have been so disappointed that Hux did not have the force. The General pressed on, chin up, back rigid.

“There is a greater task at hand and one star system that does not want to contribute to the greater good of the galaxy…”

“I don’t need speeches Hux. Why are you here?”

Kylo noted how Hux shoulder hunched just a little and his eyes skittered away for a brief moment before he straightened and calmly continued.

“There has been a report of Resistance activity on Judlan Kee.”

Kylo said nothing. So many reports that had been little more than malicious attempts to take out a rival or gain a reward. Bounty hunters had turned up little and what they’d found was old. Even his sense of her had somehow been masked. He swept unwelcome memories from his thoughts and considered the blank expression of the man before him. It covered so little of his seething emotions when Kylo took the time to test them. Did Hux know how much Kylo could feel how he churned and seethed?

“Why do you need to go?”

Hux shifted on his feet just a little. “Supreme Leader, this report seemed a little more credible.”

Kylo knew it wasn’t. Still there was a glimmer of something.

“We overheard a droid communication that was suspicious.” Kylo let himself open to the force but the glimmer did not come again. He turned back to the cold expanse of space on the other side of the transparisteel.

“Go. Send me regular updates.”

“Supreme Leader,” Hux murmured as the General retreated from his presence. Kylo sensed the lingering subterfuge surrounding the General. The force whispered it’s warning to Kylo again. Yes, Kylo was aware that the General had secret plans. Kylo let a smile play about his lips for a moment then returned to his contemplation of space.

Tomorrow would be the launch of their next proud mega destroyer. Hux would take command of the repaired Supremacy that Kylo now stood on. Kylo’s new mega destroyer was both larger and contained even greater surprises than the Supremacy. There would be parades, and inspections and Hux would make grand speeches as he was want to do. Then they would leave for the Khalak system.

Just another day without the sun.

He looked out into the depths of space, wondering what it held. Who. Where…He clenched a fist and quashed the memory.

“Is everything prepared for tomorrow C3N1?” The droid looked up from the data screen.

“Yes Supreme Leader. I have prepared everything as you ordered.”

Kylo pulled a cylinder from his belt and handed it to C3N1. The droid took it without question and inserted it into a hidden cavity about where the last rib of a human would be.

The droid jerked and looked up at him. “Supreme leader I…”

“You will follow these instructions if and when I contact you.”

The droid nodded. “Yes, Supreme Leader.”

Kylo turned and continued to stare out into space. Maybe he would try to sleep, at least for a little while. He breathed in and out. No, he would meditate. At least that way he wouldn’t dream…

A point of light caught his eye. He watched it. A comet maybe. He looked away. He didn’t want to be reminded of the light. He looked again, mesmerized by the brightness as it cut a swathe through the dark of space.  

Its light lit the room about him as it soared past the fleet. He watched its brightness and foolishly wished he could be consumed in its fire.

C3NI made a small noise like a cough. “If you will excuse me sir, I must continue to oversee your transfer to the Ascendancy.”

Kylo nodded and waved a dismissive hand.

There had been a brief glow of fire once, in the cold emptiness of his life.

And no matter how hard he looked for her he could not find her.

His loss and loneliness welled up, it’s claws at his throat. He clenched his fists, willing his pain to fuel the dark side in him.

Except all he felt was the pain, the full power of the dark ever elusive.

He turned and strode into his private chamber.

He knelt before the glass case that still held his one treasure.

He was Vader’s heir.

And he would follow his destiny.

With or without her.

 

 

“Don’t be long,” Rose’s voice came over the comm.

“No worries sweetheart, we won’t,” Finn replied but whispered in Rey’s ear. “Lomas isn’t the most exciting place in the galaxy. I doubt there’ll be much to keep us there.”

Rey smiled as she completed the nav computer coordinates while Chewie went through pre-hyperspace checks. Lomas, their destination, was an almost invisible world even in the outer rim. The one main port of Chalst was a small city on a small planet but it had what they needed.

Rey could feel that Finn was already itching to get back to Rose. Except that Rose was hard at work on her cloaking technology, well…as hard as she could work right now. Leia had decided Finn was a distraction though so she’d sent him with Rey and Chewie on their little shopping trip.  

Rey looked at the planet below. All it had was a number, BH056. Rey thought of it as the little rock. A perfect place for their new Resistance base. This was their second new base since Crait, their last one having been discovered by a smuggling gang also looking for a new hideout. Fortunately the Resistance was long gone by the time the First Order arrived.

Poe and Snap had found this new base. It was hospitable, to an extent. A rocky barren place on the surface but ridden with cooled lava tunnels underneath. It had a breathable atmosphere and a power source, abandoned but salvageable. Water was a little scarce but they had the technology for that. Most important it was far enough out of the way for detection to be difficult but not so far that it would hinder them from maintaining their connection to the network they had so meticulously created.

The main issue was food. Whoever had abandoned the settlement in the past hadn’t left much behind but there was enough rations to get by on while they got a hydroponics unit up and going. Medical supplies were in the shortest supply though, having used almosty everything they had.

The jump to hyperspace was smooth for an old rust bucket. Rey had spent a lot of time with Chewie working on the Falcon as one of their few means of transport. She loved the thing as much as he did. They had avoided large craft at first so as to be harder to track. Rose had been certain that the damage suffered by the Supremacy had made the First Order hyperspace tracking technology useless but they couldn’t count on this forever. Soon enough they would be able to track them again. Smaller, cloaked craft seemed better able to avoid tracking.

Rebuilding the Resistance fleet and numbers since Crait had been a slow and disheartening process. At first many of their allies were scattered and under duress from the First Order. The story that a young Jedi, taught by Luke Skywalker, was fighting for the Resistance had buoyed some but not as many as Leia had hoped. And yet, in recent months, the network had bloomed like wildflowers in hidden valleys. C3PO was like a child reporting confirmed and vetted links spread across the galaxy.

Chewie clapped a huge hairy hand on Rey’s shoulder, huffed an excuse and then headed back to the lounge where he engaged in a zillionth round of battle with R2 over the Dejarik table. Rey shook her head. The battle had apparently been going on since forever.  

Rey turned in her seat to face Finn.

“How are things going with Rose?”

“Good,” Finn replied, not quite hiding his tired smile.

“She hates being pregnant though.”

Rey smiled, glad that her friend had found so much happiness. Rey wished…in spite of herself she looked down and closed her eyes, the memory of his face looking up at her burned her heart once again. They were silent for a little while until they heard Chewie howl his displeasure from the lounge and R2’s expletive laden droid speak reply. Rey shook her head and laughed. Two old friends who never cared to be anything other than who they were together.

Finn’s words next words startled her.

“I saw a rumour on the holonet that it was Luke Skywalker who killed Snoke.”

Rey laughed, a bitter sound. Leia was the only person she’d told that Ben had killed Snoke.

“Which is funny seeing as the only Jedi I know who was there was you,” he said. There was only the sound of the hyperspace engines between them.

“I know it was Kylo Ren,” Finn said. Rey flinched.  

“You went there to convince him to leave, like Han, didn’t you?”

Rey nodded, dashing an unexpected tear away. Finn shook his head.

“Rey. He could’ve killed you too.”

Rey scowled. “He had the chance to do that.”

Finn’s brows lowered and the look in his eye sharpened. “What do you mean?”

Rey bit her lip. She shouldn’t have said that. She looked away. Maybe it was time to talk about it. Maybe someone else should know that Ben was still in there somewhere.

“Snoke ordered him to kill me but he killed Snoke instead.”

Finn’s mouth dropped open but then he closed it. Rey watched with a plummeting heart as he pursed his lips, a pessimistic glint in his eye. Had she been wrong?

“And now he’s Supreme Leader. How convenient.”

Rey saw the questions in his eyes that he couldn’t quite find all the answers to. She knew she couldn’t tell him the rest. Let them know he killed Snoke instead of her. They could puzzle on that for now. There were some things she wasn’t going to revisit.

“Why did he let you go?”

Rey swallowed, quashing the guilt and heartbreak. “Who says he let me go?”

Finn’s wry laugh and head shake put Rey at ease again but there were still questions in Finn’s eyes. To her relief he didn’t pursue any more answers.

The alarm signifying the end of their journey sounded and she turned back to her piloting duties, grateful to put uncomfortable thoughts from her mind.

There was no trouble landing until local customs officials turned a wary eye their way. Their story that they were colonists looking to replenish basic supplies was scrutinised more than she would have expected. Rey couldn’t feel any imminent danger, just an undercurrent of worry. They were both relieved when officials were diverted by a call about contraband goods from another ship.

“I thought we were gone there for a minute,” Rey said.

Finn looked more rattled. “We need to keep our eyes open. That smelled too much like the First Order.”

Chewie stayed with the ship as agreed and kept her ready for a fast take off if needed. R2 rolled along behind them.

It took them almost an hour to get all the supplies they needed. They hauled their supplies back to the Falcon themselves to avoid extra porting costs and questions about their transport. Rey used it as an excuse to practice her force skills, ensuring everything was stashed quickly without using local labour. R2 also manipulated city computer logs into believing they hadn’t really been there as well.

“Okay, time to go,” Finn said. Rey bit her lip. There were some things that had caught her eye in their travels. Things she could fix and repurpose.

“Do you mind if I head back. I thought I saw some used power units we could fix up.”

Finn sighed and shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “You still love junk.” 

“Hey, it’s not junk if it works and helps the Resistance,” she said.  R2 whistled his agreement.

“Fine, let’s go. This better not take too long though.” R2 whistled and beeped. Rey felt a pull in the force and stopped. There was just a glimmer of something. She looked at R2.

“Sorry R2. I think you should stay here, just in case we have to leave fast.” R2 made a low grumpy beep that caused Rey to laugh. However, he turned and trundled back up the Falcon’s ramp.

Rey knew where they were going when they headed out again so they covered ground quickly. As they walked through dusty streets full rusting metal, peeling paint and makeshift stalls Rey felt that pull from the force again. She let herself feel what it was but it was too ethereal as yet.

When they reached the junk seller, almost on the other side of town, to Rey’s disappointment the power units were missing several key components.

“It would cost the same to buy new power units as it would to buy all the separate bits to fix these up,” Finn said. Reluctantly Rey agreed so they moved on.

Something else had caught her eye. A box made of graflex metal sheeting. The box didn’t matter but the metal sheeting was exactly what she was looking for to repair Luke’s lightsabre. She thought of it as Luke’s still. It stopped her from thinking about its more recent history. She made the purchase quickly with little haggling and turned to go.

The pull came again, this time more urgent. She let herself open up to it and it felt like a warning. She looked around but felt and saw nothing in the locals that implied the threat came from there. 

She took another step but far away voices called to her. Rey stopped, closed her eyes and breathed. Screaming, anger and fear assaulted her and something in the sky.

“Rey,” Finn said. Rey opened her eyes, wary of attracting attention to themselves.

“We need to leave. Now.” Finn’s eyes grew wide. Rey didn’t wait to explain, breaking into longer strides. Finn caught up quickly looking rattled again.

“What is it? Do you sense something?”

“Yes…no…I don’t know.” They tried to hurry without attracting attention. As they made their way back to the Falcon it seemed like the planet had heard what she’d heard. A tension began to creep into the people around them.

They’d gone further from the Falcon than Rey realised. They were still several streets away when they heard the first gasps and cries of dismay. They looked up as the thunder of a star destroyer slowing caught their attention, its bulk emerging from over a mountain range. It must have come out of hyperspace on the other side of the planet and then flown in atmosphere to their location. No doubt hoping to catch the people off guard.

“What the hell,” Rey muttered. What was the First Order doing here? The scream of TIE fighters sent chills along every fiber of her body.

“Come, on we gotta get out of sight. The Falcon’s too far away,” Finn yelled. As if backing up his words, troop transports began landing in the streets.

“If they find the Falcon…” Rey started to say. Finn grabbed her hand and pulled her into an arch over a doorway. They soon realised they weren’t alone. A terrified mother and her two children huddled there in front of the locked door.

Rey made a decision. She pulled out her comm unit.

“Chewie if you can take off and get away from here, leave. Finn and I will find another way…” she was interrupted by his growl of dismay at leaving them behind. She looked at Finn and he nodded.

“Chewie, the Falcon is one of the few ships the…” she looked around to where the mother and her two children cowered. She didn’t want to say the word in front of strangers, however innocent they looked.

“Just get the hell out. You have R2 and the medical and food supplies. They need them. We’ll hide ‘til you can come back.”

Chewie huffed a reluctant assent. She could already hear him powering up for a fast exit when he cut the comm.

“We’re on our own,” she said. They heard the roar of the Falcon overhead. It was quickly joined by the roar of several other ships making the same fast exit move. Hopefully the Falcon would be lost in the flurry of ships blasting out of the atmosphere.

The Star Destroyer didn’t seem to be interested in chasing the fleeing ships. The mother and her two children began to cry as they clung to each other. Rey peeked out as she watched storm troopers begin to march down the street. If they came this way there was no way the troopers wouldn’t see them.

Rey moved a little more to the front of the archway, closed her eyes and reached out. She’d done this with one or two storm troopers before but she was stronger now, more familiar with the force.

“They’re going to find us,” Finn said. The mother and her children huddled into the corner even more.

Rey thought of it as more like a barrier, a shield through which they couldn’t see. Or maybe it was a wall, an ordinary wall. A wall that looked the same as all the other walls. Stone and mortar, patchy, pock-marked and stained by age. 

“Wait a minute.” Finn’s voice held horror and derision.

“I remember something. No, no, no…Rey, they’re here for the children.” The mother and her children whimpered louder.

Rey continued to concentrate.

“Rey.” Finn’s voice was urgent but there was a query too. Maybe he understood because he knelt down to quieten the woman and her children.

The hair along her arms rose up as the storm trooper boots marched closer. She breathed and calmed. It was just a little illusion. They wouldn’t even know they were here.

The mother and her children seemed to know that they needed to be quiet as the storm troopers passed. The atmosphere around them was claustrophobic but the storm troopers didn’t even break stride.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they passed.

“You did it. That was…I know you did it.” Finn was by her side, awe and reverence shining in his eyes and a slow smile spreading across his face.

Rey looked down, uncomfortable with her friend’s adulation. The mother and her children looked back, wide eyed and wondering.

“It’s okay. They’re gone,” she said. The mother pulled her children close again but this time for joy that she still had them with her.

“We can’t stay here,” Finn said. He was right. Rey looked out into the street. For now it was empty but there were no guarantees it would remain so.

“Come with us.” The mother stood and pulled her children to their feet with her.

She strode purposefully out into the street with them. Rey and Finn watched her, mouths open. She turned back.

“Are you coming or not.” Rey nodded and stepped forward, Finn hot on her heels.

“Our safe house isn’t far from here,” the woman said. “We almost made it back. I couldn’t believe I’d been caught out this time.”

“Safe house.” “This time.” Rey and Finn said together.

“Last time they couldn’t find those of us who made it to the safe houses. Our mole said they were coming again soon. We have no way to fight back. All we can do is hide but I didn’t make it to the safe house in time. At least until you two showed up.”

The woman stopped and turned to Rey. “What was that? What did you do?”

Rey opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to figure out how much to tell the woman. “Oh, just a little trick I learned.”

The woman frowned. “Either you’re a Jedi or you have some kind of personal cloaking device on you.” Her eyes grew wary. Rey’s steps faltered. Probably better to go with the second option. The woman looked like she was considering that option anyway.

“Er, I…”

“Never mind. I’m happy to benefit from it,” the woman said. She turned and strode off down the street. “I’m Hilder by the way,” she called over her shoulder. “And this is Milla and Coll.”

Rey looked down at the sweet faces that kept peeking up at her. “I’m Rey and this is Finn.”

Hilder looked over her shoulder for a moment. Rey could feel new thoughts turning in her mind but she didn’t want to pry. It was obvious the woman was wary and had heard something about them.

A scream up ahead halted them in their tracks.

“No,” Hilder gasped.

“The safe house,” Coll whimpered. Up ahead Storm troopers were pulling mothers, fathers and children from a doorway that otherwise might have looked insignificant. Quickly they retreated around a corner. It was too late though.

“Up there. Get them too.”

Rey looked about. They needed to run but where. A lane way presented itself. Hilder was already heading for it. They followed her. Coll kept up but it was obvious Milla couldn’t and so Hilder stopped to pick her up.

“I’ll take her,” Finn said. The little girl wasn’t much of an armful for Finn but she would have slowed her mother down. They scuttled down the lane way and into a maze of other lane ways. Rey tried to gain a picture in the force on where Hilder was leading them.

“Where are we going?”

“To another safe house.”

Something wasn’t right. They came to a long narrow lane way.

“Nearly there,” Hilder said.

At the other end of the laneway a rough command halted their progress.

“Down here.” The voice of a Storm trooper. Several Storm troopers.

“What?....Nooo.” Hilder looked about in cold fear. “Someone has given up our safe houses.”

Rey looked at the approaching Storm troopers, focused on a narrow doorway, the only door way in the lane.

“Finn, get them out of sight,” she said.

“Rey. What’s going on?”

“Get them out of sight.” She turned to him. She could have used compulsion but preferred not to unless she had to. She slipped her staff from her shoulder and put her hand on her hip where her blaster was.

“Rey wait. You can’t take them on alone.”

“You need to protect Hilder and her kids.” She didn’t argue any further. Instead she turned on her heel and headed towards the Storm troopers. She had to stop them opening that door. Her first two shots hit their mark but other Storm troopers were now returning fire. She used her staff as best as she could to deflect the bolts but it was taking a beating and heating up. Another shot from her blaster took down another trooper. There were still three left. Sprinting she launched herself among them, her staff swinging and twisting in her grip as she brought it up and around, knocking one then two troopers from their feet. The last one tasted her blaster. She turned back and smacked one of the troopers again when she saw movement.

She looked back at the carnage. She hated death like this but…

The door in the lane way opened. The sound of a blaster powering up behind her gave her pause.

“Don’t move.” Rey breathed and tried to get a gauge on the owner of the new voice.

Running footsteps approached. Hilder.

“Carlin. It’s okay. She’s a friend.”

“What the hell.” Another voice. Rey turned around to find two shocked men looking wide eyed and warily at the Storm troopers lying about.

“She’s a friend, they both are,” Hilder said as Finn approached with Milla still in his arms, Coll by his side.

“We’ve been betrayed,” Hilder said. “The other safe house has been raided and these were no doubt headed here.”

“What are we going to do?” one man said.

“Come on,” Carlin said “These back streets are a maze and we might be able to lose them or at least make it hard.” Several adults with several more children came out and as a group they moved back into the lane ways.

A Tie fighter overhead gave them no quarter. Two shots ahead of them turned them around.

“They’re just herding us back,” Carlin said. Rey realised they were in a real fix. They needed cover or they needed air. What they needed was a ship. Something none of them seemed to have.

A shuttle flew overhead. An officer’s shuttle. She tracked it with all her senses.

“Is there an open place ahead,” she said. “Where that shuttle might land.”

Wary looks were her reply.

“Hiding isn’t working so we need another option.”

Hilder and Carlin looked at each other. “You want to steal that shuttle.”

“Maybe.”

Carlin laughed. “Lady, you’re crazy.”

“And yet she took out all of those,” Hilder said looking back at the Storm troopers. “And I happen to know she has a personal cloaking device.”

Sharp looks turned her way. Rey wasn’t about to say that she used her force powers to hide them. This little shopping trip had already been blown into a full on mission without adding that kind of expectation. Finn caught her glance and they both silently agreed it would not be a good thing to deny Hilder’s allegation.   

Carlin’s look was duly suspicious.

“Your friend stays with us. If you can get us a ride you can have him back.”

Finn shook his head. “They’ll only track the shuttle. They’ll still catch you.”

Rey nodded and turned back to the suspicious locals.

“Look, what you need is for the First Order to leave right.”

Carlin’s eyes narrowed.

“I won’t leave anyone here to the First Order if I can help it.”

Carlin and Hilder both looked uncomfortable but she could tell their desperation was winning out.

“What if I can make the First Order will leave the children behind?”

Hilder frowned.

“How do you know they’re taking the children?”

“I know,” Finn said. He looked at both of them the same way he’d looked at Maz on Takodana when he’d spoken about the First Order.

Hilder shook her head, her eyes growing wide.

“I heard a story about a storm trooper…”

Rey cut her off before she could say any more. “We can swap stories later. For now I need to go alone.”

Carlin lifted his blaster just a little and his eyes narrowed. “What are your plans?”

Rey didn’t move. “I have a plan but you really don’t want to know.”

Carlin shook his head. “Not good enough.”

Finn placed a hand on his shoulder. “She won’t let you down.” Finn looked at her. “I can guarantee it.”

Rey smiled just a little but turned to Hilder. “I know what it is to be separated from your parents. We both do. This is personal.”

Hilder pulled her children closer to her and nodded. Carlin chewed his lip for a moment but nodded too, even if his gaze remained cool.

“Go now before they can get any of our children off the surface.”

Rey nodded and turned to where the First Order shuttle was landing up ahead. She swallowed and prepared herself. She was going to have to talk to _him_.

It wasn’t much to slip through the narrow streets. When she came out into the square where the shuttle had landed she looked around for entry and exit points. The shuttle opened and spilled forth its passengers.

Rey froze. One passenger had red hair, striding arrogantly down as a giant silver clad storm trooper stepped forward to meet him.

General Hux. On a personal mission was he. A snarl curled her lip.

She watched as Hux strode towards a small party of well-dressed locals. Maybe too well-dressed for a planet like Lomas. The most sumptuously dressed stepped forward and affected a stiff bow. Hux smiled and extended a hand holding a cylinder. Storm troopers then escorted the bevy of locals away followed by a trolley loaded with cases. No doubt she had just witnessed payment for giving up the safe houses. Her stomach churned. She quashed her anger. She needed to stay focussed.

The shuttle was near to an abandoned conglomerate of market stalls. Rey turned back into the side streets briefly and made her way around to where she could use the stalls for cover.

Even as she made her way towards the shuttle she prepared herself to reach out to him.

A group of frightened tearful children were being pushed forward by Storm troopers into the square and instructed to sit in the dust. Rey had to act fast.

Without a second thought she slipped up behind the shuttle and lithely jumped onto the gangway, using speed to get into the shuttle and out of sight.

She raised a hand as the pilot rose to question her presence.

“You really should check out happy hour at Holimo’s Cantina. I hear there’s Correlian Rum. You like Corellian Rum.”

The pilot looked bemused for a moment then smiled. “Yes, Correllian Rum.” He sidled past her and made his way down to the gangway and off the shuttle.

Rey needed a uniform fast. Apparently there were spares, if a little big for her. She went to the console and began flicking through the commands and screens. She reached under the console and pulled out a wire and all the while she opened her mind to the force…the bond.

She’d just found what she was looking for when she felt him. She didn’t want to turn around.

“Rey.”

His voice, soft and sad, broke her heart all over again. She would have thought he’d be angry still. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to breathe. She couldn’t afford to get distracted. She remembered the children in the dust outside.

“Where are you?”

Rey swallowed and turned, forcing herself not to react to the sight of him. Still the dark angel of her desire. A powerful, dangerous, tired, tense, fragile dark angel who looked like he could deal death or shatter into a million pieces of misery. She resisted the urge to go to him. Gathering together her anger she blasted him with it.

“So! I see you’re stealing children now too.”

He scowled. The scar only a thin memory of what it once was.

“What!”

Rey spat back at him. “You know. New storm troopers for cannon fodder. You take them from their parents when they’re children.”

His scowl deepened.

“If you’re referring to the children abandoned by their parents. Yes, we give them a home and a purpose.” He looked and sounded arrogantly sure of himself but she knew better. She felt the hint of uncertainty in him. Well, she would see to that.

“Then why are the parents of these children here so desperate to hide them before they’re ripped from their arms.”

Ben’s jaw muscle flickered, the beauty of his dark eyes tempting her even as they sparked with temper. Yet, he allowed no anger to take control. “No, that’s not what we’re doing.”

“That’s what Hux is doing. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Ben shook his head and his breathing grew shaky. Rey turned away before her own shaking became evident. She entered the final commands and hit the start button.

His eyes followed her hands. “What are you doing? Rey.”

Rey turned to him, pulling the stolen First Order Jacket on. “Whatever I have to do to stop him.”

His voice was soft, entreating her to listen. Force help her, resisting him was a task.

“Rey. Please tell me where you are. I’ll come to you.”

She stepped close to him, looking up at him. “I won’t be a party to this. I won’t let more children be hurt because of your blindness.”

His eyes were full of pain, shadows haunting them. She remembered what it was like to touch him and her heart clenched and stuttered as she clenched her fists to keep from reaching for him. He reached out to touch her face and like a traitor she let him. She couldn’t move. His gloveless fingers warm and soft as they traced the curve of her cheek. Her heart raced and electricity shot through her.

Rey closed her eyes and put the feel of his touch from her mind. It was the children outside she needed to think of. She opened her eyes and stepped back, scooping her hair up and stuffing it under the cap she’d found.

“I have set the self-destruct sequence and timed it for the moment this shuttle lands on the star ship above. It’ll take down you’re ship and everyone in it. I’m going to make sure everyone knows the Resistance is still fighting for them. I won’t let Kylo Ren destroy what’s left of what’s good in this galaxy. I won’t.”

A red light began to flash on the console and she touched its invitation. Ben’s face appeared on the screen above the console. It was strange to see him there as well as at her side.

“You’re on Lomas,” he said. A flash of anger on his face puzzled her for a moment but it disappeared. She turned away from his image on the screen and looked up at the man who stood before her. Her knees threatened to buckle at the longing she saw in his eyes. She let her anger keep her from giving in.

“Good bye Ben.”

Panic came over him for a moment and he reached for her again. She stayed just out of reach. She walked backwards a few steps just to keep him in view until the last moment then turned to go.

“Rey,” he called after her but she couldn’t turn back, she had to keep going.

The shuttle fired up as she strode down the gangway. She aimed straight for Hux, not letting her steps falter as she approached. She reached out in the force and let Hux see someone just a little different to the person he’d seen on the Supremacy. Easy, he wasn’t expecting to see her.

“General. The Supreme Leader wishes to speak with you,” she said. Hux scowled. He turned to the silver storm trooper, Phasma she remembered Finn say was her name.

“Hold off for now. We don’t want him to get wind of this.” Phasma nodded. Rey felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. Was it true? Did Ben not know what was going on here?

Hux turned to walk to the shuttle but then looked at her, his nose wrinkling in disdain.

“I don’t know what you think this is pilot but you need to get your uniform sorted out better than that. You’re pay will be docked until you do.”

Rey looked at him, gathering the force to her. “Yes, General. I really do think you should leave the children behind though.” His forehead wrinkled into a frown but then he nodded. He strode off up the gangway. She moved her hand by her side and the gangway shut behind him.

Rey watched as the shuttle took off by remote control. She hadn’t quite planned for Hux to be on the shuttle but she’d take the chance if she could. The Republic deserved that much for what he’d done.

“What’s going on ensign,” Phasma demanded. When the silver storm trooper turned fully to her she noticed that one side of her mask had been repaired and a blue light shone behind the repaired section, as though an electronic eye glowed there.

“I don’t know but I think there were reports of the Resistance in the area.” She pulled on the force again. “I think it would be best to leave the children behind. You don’t need them.”

Phasma looked at her for a moment then turned back to the rising shuttle.

 

 

Ben looked at the place where Rey had been, not sure if she'd really been there. All his resolutions to be angry with her had dissolved the moment he’d felt her pull. He’d come running like the foolish boy he was. For just a moment when he’d touched her and light had filled his soul again he’d dared to hope.

He let out the breath he was holding and clenched his fists. Lomas. He forced himself back into the mould of Kylo Ren, the automaton he functioned as to keep his world in order. He sent a message to the Finalizer that he would be there presently then reached out to flick off the screen.

Movement caught his eye and he withdrew his hand.

Hux came into view.

“Supreme leader. This is unexpect…”

“What are you doing on that shuttle?”

“Aahh…” Hux’ mouth worked as he tried to come up with some kind of explanation on the spot. As much as Ben would like to see the cur get blown to hell with the shuttle, he still needed him to command his military forces.

“Get off you idiot. She set it to self-destruct. As soon as it gets close enough to the Finalizer they’re going to shoot it down.”

“What?”

“She set it to self-destruct. Hux your shuttle is going to blow up.”

“She…”

“Yes. She.”

“The Jed…” Hux’ eyes bugged as a slow realisation came over him. He jumped up and looked about. He began working the console.

“This is General Hux. Use my voice as your command signature. Belay self-destruct.”

Nothing happened. Hux’ voice squeaked as he shouted at the computer.

“Belay self-destruct.” Ben watched in fascination as Hux began putting commands into the console. He raised an eyebrow when he heard the curses coming from Hux’ mouth.

“Find an escape pod and get off that thing,” he commanded. Hux looked up, panic evident on his face.

“An escape pod Hux. Get off that thing.”

Hux didn’t delay any further and disappeared from view. Ben sat there watching until the screen went to static.

Rey! A glimmer of light broke into his dark world. For all the dark power he wielded he couldn’t…wouldn’t put it out. It was there, shining in a corner of his heart.

He expected there to be conflict but there wasn’t. Just the calm acceptance of the light in the dark, like it was always meant to be there.

He looked out the window and remembered the comet from earlier. He sucked in a ragged breath. He’d wanted Kylo Ren to die in its fire. Maybe he’d have his chance yet.

Lomas. He had to get there - fast.


	2. Chapter 2

Rey tracked the shuttle with her eyes and saw the escape pod. The shuttle rose a little more but then the Finalizer shot it out of the sky.

Phasma looked up and saw the smoke and falling burning debris and reacted.

“All commands return to departure point immediately. Leave the children behind. Resistance activity has been detected. Leave all children behind.”

Rey backed away, letting others take her place around Phasma. She melted back into the streets, dumping her First Order uniform. Storm troopers were running towards transports, which headed back to the star ship above.

Rey wasn’t sure what sequence of events she’d set off here but at least they’d leave the children behind. She skirted around the streets and found Finn still with the others. Tearful parents were hugging their children as Storm troopers left them and hurried away.

Finn smiled and nodded when he saw her.

“What did you do? What did you say?” Hilder said.

Rey bit her lip, she didn’t want to say too much.

“There was an assassination attempt on General Hux and now they’re looking for the Resistance instead. They’re leaving the children behind.”

Hilder’s mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide.

“The Resistance. Here on….wait.” Her eyes narrowed and others drew close.

“It’s you. Isn’t it. You and Finn here. You’re the Resistance.”

Rey could only give her a tight smile. She’d brought trouble to their world. It might not matter that the First Order was leaving the children behind. They would decimate the planet if they thought Lomas were harbouring the Resistance.

Except there was a spark in Hilder’s eye that began to burn.

“For so long we’ve had no choice but to let the First Order take what they want. Lomas would be one of the most prosperous worlds in the sector if it wasn’t for the First Order draining everything we have. Most of all they take our children. We thought the Resistance was dead. We thought the First Order had wiped them out. But then we heard that Luke Skywalker had trained a new Jedi.”

Rey looked down and fiddled with her tunic but Hilder continued.

“If the Resistance is still alive I will do what I can.”

Finn stepped forward. “But if you collaborate with us the First Order will punish your world. I know what they do.” He turned to Rey. “I won’t let that happen.”

Rey closed her eyes and drew on the force for guidance. “Take us captive and hand us over,” she said. She looked at Finn and he looked back. He nodded.

“No.” It was Carlin this time. “I know where I can get hold of a ground speeder. If you can make it to Greval, you find a smuggler named Kwill and he will give you passage off world. We’ll give you until midday but after that…”

Hilder pulled at Carlin’s arm, a scowl on her face. “No! I won’t turn them over.”

“Yes, you will,” Rey said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s all we need, a chance to get away and take them with us. What good is the Resistance if we just get you all killed.” Hilder’s shoulders slumped and she nodded, a slow reluctant tilting of her head. Carlin pulled out a comm unit and spoke into it. Rey turned to Hilder.

“Just knowing people still have hope in the Resistance…” Rey squeezed her shoulder, “it means more than you know.”

Rey looked at the sky, midday wasn’t far away. “All I want is for you to take care of your families,” she said, backing away now. Finn was already going. Rey gave the woman one last look before she turned to go. Hilder held her children close. Rey felt a twinge in her heart. She’d once hoped for a family of her own but that hope had disappeared some time ago.

Rey turned away. Hilder and her children and the other Lomatian children were her priority. She had to lead the First Order away. They jogged along behind Carlin until they came to the outskirts of town. She saw the ground speeder straight away. She felt a tug in the force. Something wasn’t right.

“There,” Carlin said. He broke away before Rey could stop him and went to the door of a nearby house. He knocked several times but there was no answer. Rey felt a pull in the force again and looked about. A shadowy figure lurked in a narrow laneway that lead into the scrub at the back of the town. She elbowed Finn, who pulled his blaster.

A shot came from across the road, knocking Carlin to the ground. Rey and Finn dove for the ground, her blaster and her staff in her hand before she hit the ground. Six storm troopers stalked from behind the house and the shadowy figure emerged from the other side. He was just a man dressed in ordinary clothes who looked like he had ordinary problems. Rey had known men like that all her life and knew she could forgive him.

“I’m sorry Carlin but I had to,” the man said. The storm troopers came straight for them. This wasn’t going to go well for any of them. Finn rolled and took a shot, taking out one storm trooper. Rey got off two well aimed shots but only one storm trooper went down. She swung her staff up as she leapt to her feet and used it to deflect several bolts but its usefulness ended when it snapped in two. It had taken far more punishment than it was designed to.

A shot came from behind and Rey turned to see Carlin, although down, was still in the fight and had taken down one more storm trooper. Another storm trooper turned and shot him again. Rey acted on instinct and threw the half piece of staff at the storm trooper, using the force to aid its speed and target. It wasn’t a pretty sight when it stuck straight through the trooper’s neck. The last storm trooper went down under Finn’s second shot.

There was a moment of silence as they looked about. Somewhere in the fray the man who’d betrayed them had also been shot by a storm trooper.

Finn’s sharp intake of breath next to her caught her attention. He pulled back his jacket to reveal a wound in his side. Rey looked at him. It wasn’t immediately fatal but would be without medical attention.

Rey hoped there might be some medical equipment in the speeder. A rasping voice came to her ear. She turned and found Carlin’s eyes were open and focussed on her. She went to him and knelt by his side.

“Take the speeder. Greval is not far away.” Carlin’s voice shook and he grimaced. “Kwill will have what you need.”

“Come with us. Let us help you,” Rey said.

Carlin shook his head. He coughed and blood spattered on his lips.

“I…I was just glad to…meet the…Jedi,” he said. His eyes grew dim and his head fell sideways.

Rey wished she could do more than just leave him there on a dusty road but there were already shouts at the end of the street.

“I was glad to meet you too Carlin,” she said and gently lowered his head to the dust.

Finn had stumbled across to the speeder and pulled himself in. Rey leapt into the driver’s seat and fired up the old beast before heading out of town as another band of storm troopers came into view. Rey headed out on the only road towards Greval. After a short while the low scrub beside the road began to grow tall and thick, merging into a dark green forest. Excellent, that would give them some cover.

 

Hux hated _him_. Why did _he_ have to be the one to save his life? Hux was going to kill that kriffing upstart. He knew it was Kylo Ren who’d killed Snoke. Not that Hux cared about the old snake. But Snoke had trained him, Hux, to be in command.

Kylo Ren couldn’t command a picken in a packet of dried gundark ears. That’s why Ren still needed him around; to actually run the First Order and this war while _he_ moped about the girl and his parents and indulged himself looking for “The Resistance”.

There were systems that needed a firm hand. This galaxy was meant to _bow_ to the First Order and Hux knew better than anyone what that required.

The escape pod, little more than a steel box, bumped down with very little comfort to his person. He hit the escape button. The pod clicked open and the top slid back.

Above was green. Trees. Of course. He was now stuck in one of Lomas’ no doubt bug infested, creature laden forests. And it was getting hot as the sun neared its zenith. He ground his teeth. At least Phasma would be here soon with one of her transports to pick him up.

He reached to check his locator beacon. Yes it was working.

He sat up and looked around.

The first thing he heard was the roar of something that sounded hungry. He huddled back down in his pod and hit the button to shut the lid again.

It didn’t shut.

He hit it again. Maybe a wire had come loose and it just needed…no. It was useless.

He sat up, muttering obscenities at the pod. No doubt something carnivorous would be here soon to investigate the pod. If it offered him no protection then he’d better go find some. He pulled out his side-arm and kept it at ready as he stood and looked about for the best direction to take. Another hungry growl prompted immediate action and so he found himself running in the opposite direction that the hungry growl had come from. 

He heard a noise. An engine. Perhaps there was a road nearby. He turned in that direction. A road would be easier for Phasma to pick him up from.

 

 

Ben took in the situation from his ship. The Finalizer hung in space below him. He made a brief connection and enquiry about Hux. He looked down at the planet.

She was down there. He could feel it.

“Sir. General Hux is still on the planet. We believe there was a resistance attempt on his life.”

“I am already aware of that. Has he been found?” While he waited for a reply he reached out to her and found the same blinding evasion he’d encountered before. He shouldn’t be surprised. She was very good at disappearing. In the galaxy and in the Force.

If she was here the Resistance wouldn’t be far away. He needed to know why she was here. Was she alone? He chewed at his lip. The thought of not knowing where she’d been or what she’d been doing gnawed at him, especially given her increasing powers in the force.

The voice from the comm. informed him Hux was yet to be retrieved. Ben caught his Lieutenant’s eye.

“Ready my ship.”

He stepped from his seat, straightening his cape and let it flow about him. An old relic it may be but he loved this thing. So he wasn’t sure why he swapped it for a black cowl instead. Practicality perhaps.

He would find her and she would stand before him, the Supreme Leader and then…then. He clenched his fists. She’d probably spit some other ludicrous accusation at him but… His knees nearly gave out at the thought of being close enough to touch her again as he strode through the halls of the Supremacy.

Her words whispered in his mind, a dagger of sweet light. They left him bleeding again from a soul he thought already bled dry. It seemed there was more lifeblood in him that she could steal.

_Goodbye Ben_

No. He wouldn’t let her go this time. She wasn’t going to get away. He wasn’t going to be so stupid this time. This time. This time he’d…his steps faltered a little as he realised he’d do anything.

No! Such weakness only lead to pain.

Once he was aboard the Silencer and heading to the planet he reached out in the force, just to sense where she was. Her proximity allowing him to track her through the force. The central continent. Southern region. Ben let his mind reach out and followed that tantalizing bond he’d fought so hard to ignore. He’d left it alone but always it was there, tempting him to find her. He sucked in his lip and chewed at it. The bond could not be manipulated like that. A good and bad thing…alright, mostly a good thing.

Now he just followed the sense of her…as his heart rate increased. He wanted to be calm, in control, stern. He’d already blown that the moment she’d called and he’d come running like the lonely boy he was…he shook his head. Concentrate.

A road through the forest. Yes. He followed the pull of their bond. She was below, among the trees. He skimmed over the trees above the road where she fled.

He’d set his ship to silent running but she still knew he was there. He could feel her fear and frustration. Surely she knew he couldn’t hurt her.

Another less familiar presence caught his attention.

She wasn’t alone. He ground his teeth. Was it the storm trooper? The traitor.

The speeder below stopped momentarily then took off again. Without her.

Ben smiled. She knew who he’d come for and she was letting her companion get away while she faced him. He cared nothing for the storm trooper. He brought the ship to a stop and hovered over where she was.

The only place to land was low rocky peak, bare of vegetation, above the ravine in which the road wound its way. It was just big enough for the Silencer. The landing required skill and he had little time if he was going to catch up to her. He virtually smacked the Silencer down in his haste. He didn’t even take the time to fully power down his ship, leaving several systems still operational or on standby. Ben didn’t plan on being here long. He was out and picking his way down the rocky slope, using the force to guide him through the treacherous terrain in the direction he could feel her fleeing.

He pushed the thickening vegetation out of his way, following her like she was a beacon in the force, his sense of her like a song that played in his heart.

The weather on Lomas was warm compared to the cool of space and he pushed back his cowl, loosening it about his neck. He was beginning to sweat as he used his sabre to cut back any undergrowth that hampered his progress.

He might have been more powerful but she was fast and sure of foot. He might not have caught up to her if she hadn’t stopped. He crashed out of the shrubbery into a little clearing. Rey was in the middle of the clearing, holding her hand out, her eyes closed, concentrating.

She wasn’t alone.

 

 

Finn knew he’d screwed this one up. The blaster wound was worse than he’d let on. He hadn’t had the strength to stop Rey from her stupid decision to face Kylo Ren. She’d rigged the autopilot on the speeder to continue to Greval. He cursed as he struggled against his pain to turn the autopilot off and turn around to go back.

His movements were jerky as he pushed himself over to the controls. His arm wasn’t responding well to his commands. He had to keep one hand on the bacta packs Rey had pushed into his side. He jerked his body, grunting at the pain, to try and get his hand over to where he could turn off the autopilot. He couldn’t let him hurt her.

When he finally got his hand on the autopilot control his efforts to turn it off lacked a certain finesse and sent him careering to one side of the road. He resisted the urge to yank the steering back and cause a fatal overcorrection. At least by now he’d learnt a few things from Rose and Poe about the finer aspects of piloting.

The figure that appeared at the side of the road nearly went unnoticed but the flash of red hair caught his eye and his fears all in one. He must be hallucinating from the pain or something. Hux was running, being chased by a large…creature…with four long graceful legs, pointy ears, menacing teeth in powerful jaws and thick brown fur.  

The creature was intent on its quarry; a screaming General Hux.

Too late Finn realised there was going to be a collision with the beast. He pulled his blaster to him as best as he could and took aim. The predator leapt but its foot caught the edge of the speeder sending it careering off to the edge of the road. The speeder hit some saplings and flipped, throwing him out. Finn’s landing sent pain throughout his whole body while the speeder righted itself and nonchalantly waited for its occupant to return. Finn bit down against the pain that wracked his side. He didn’t need to advertise where he was.  

The beast had tripped and stumbled but had regained its footing far better even than the speeder. It turned to see what had crossed its path. It stalked towards the speeder, a direction that would take it directly past Finn’s location. Finn hunkered down in the bushes, still holding his blaster like it was his lifeblood. If the beast wrecked the speeder he was stranded here. Maybe he could scare it off. His side bloomed with pain but he forced himself to lift the blaster, breathe and steady his hand before he squeezed off a shot…which sped off into the forest.

The beast wasn’t expecting the shot and it jumped and snarled. It turned towards Finn, its interest now shifting to him. Okay, the beast didn’t scare so easily. He pointed the blaster again and squeezed off another shot. This time the beast jumped back, the blast grazing its flank. It turned to Finn and snarled.

This wasn’t going well. All he’d done was make it mad. Finn was going to have to concentrate and wait until it was in kill range. His body was working against him. The pain was causing his aim to shudder. His brain was growing as tired and sore as his body. He had to make this one count. He checked the blaster and was thankful when he realised there was room to increase the power.

The beast stalked closer for a moment then sniffed the air, as though it were scenting the blood oozing from his side. Its ears went up in anticipation then they flattened as it rushed at him, its claws gouging the ground. Finn held his nerve and waited until he had a kill shot before he fired.

Blaster fire from across the road hit the beast on the back, doing little more than knocking the beast off course. Finn heard Hux yelling as he shot wildly aimed blasts at other beasts emerging from the forest. He probably didn’t even know he’d just saved Finn’s life.

The first beast turned to find a new quarry. The turn opened its side to Finn and he didn’t hesitate. Opening fire he took the creature down. Its howl of rage turned into a frightened whimper as it fell and lay still. Finn lay back and breathed.

There was no time to relax. Several other creatures had noticed their fallen pack member and were coming to investigate.

Boots crunched on the gravel and dirt of the road, approaching at an intrepid pace. Hux. He wanted the speeder. Finn aimed his blaster again as the sour faced First Order General came into view.

“Put that down,” the General snapped. Old training was a hard thing to ignore but he kept his blaster aimed dead at Hux, even as his hands shook. He didn’t need any further encouragement. He squeezed the trigger. He was in bad shape though and the shot went wide. Hux pounced and kicked the blaster from his hands. Finn fell to the side as the blaster clattered away.

“So nice to catch up yet again FN-2187.” Finn glared at his former commander as Hux took aim at him.

A growl interrupted their acrimonious reunion. As far as the creatures were concerned, this wasn’t over. Hux sneered. “Better to leave you to them,” he said. He turned to the speeder and leapt in. Finn cursed Hux as the speeder roared off.

Apparently the beasts were more inclined to chase things. Or maybe they blamed Hux for the death of their pack member. Three more of them emerged from the forest and focussed on the retreating speeder. With a howl and a snarl all the beasts took off after Hux and the speeder, their long limbed gait eating up the distance. 

Finn wasn’t sure if he should curse Hux for taking the speeder or thank him for leading the beasts away. He heard the speeder cough and stall and laughed as the beasts caught up to Hux. He heard Hux scream but then the speeder took off again. Finn thought he heard it stall and start again once more before it was finally out of earshot. It seemed the speeder was even less reliable since its little tumble. Finn hoped the beasts got their man before Hux got back to where Rey was. She was resourceful and tough and had the force but he didn’t like the thought of her contending with Kylo Ren and Hux.

The problem was he didn’t know how he was going to get back to Rey to help her. If only his side didn’t hurt so much.

Finn looked about for the blaster, he needed to get to it just in case there were more beasts. He used a nearby log to help him get up then hobbled over to where the blaster lay. He picked it up and looked about.

“Nice work.” A voice came from behind him. A small figure in the forest. Finn turned to defend himself but couldn’t hold himself up anymore and slowly sank to one knee.

“More quorens will be here soon though.” A boy. “Hey. You’re hurt. You need help.”

“I’m fine. You should go before…before…” he never finished his sentence. The last he heard was the clatter of something mechanical as he passed out and tumbled all the way to the ground.

When he came to he was lying on some kind of makeshift stretcher that was being dragged along a bumpy road. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and then opened them again. He was still lying on a stretcher that was being towed by something. He tried to crane his neck and see who or what was at the front. His best guess was an ancient droid that looked more patched parts than original.

“You okay.” Finn jumped and nearly rolled off the stretcher. He looked up again. Yes, there was a kid walking next to him. For a moment Finn thought he was looking at Poe Dameron as a child. Except that the hair was longer and his large expressive eyes spoke of ancient unknowable things.

“Who...what,” he croaked. The droid in front turned to avoid a bump and jolted the stretcher. Pain shot through Finn and he grunted.

“Slow up Grim,” the boy said. The droid did as commanded with a low, morbid beep.

“Sorry, he wants to get back home before the quorens come back.”

Quorens. If the kid was talking about the running beasts that had tried to kill him then yes, he was happy to get inside.

Finn frowned, where was Rey. He needed to find her. His mind was fuzzy on the details though. Being lugged along a bumpy road wasn’t helping his memory either as more pain shot through him each time the stretcher jolted or swayed. He tried to sit up but the droid whined and the kid pushed him back down.

“It’s ok. You’ll be fine. I have bacta and other medical stuff. Grim’s not too bad at medical stuff too.”

Finn wasn’t happy about his position but couldn’t do much about it.

“Who are you?”

“Reif,” the kid said. Finn felt a slight twinge of Déjà vu. He had a habit of picking up scruffy outcasts who turned into galactic heroes. He peered closer at the boy.

“Look Reif. My name’s Finn. Nice to meet you but if you hang around me for too long you’ll get into trouble.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I know you’re Resistance,” he said. His swarthy grin was too reassuring for the kids own good. “I know what I’m getting myself into.”

Finn felt his mouth open and close but before he could think of something to say there was a growl behind them. Finn tensed, it was one of those beasts, quorens the kid had said.

Reif began searching through a satchel hanging on his shoulder. Finn looked about for his blaster. It was strapped to the stretcher and wouldn’t be easy to get off in time.

Reif pulled out a little package and threw it in the direction of the growl. There was a small explosion of black dust followed by a yelp and animal coughing sounds. Whatever these quorens were they didn’t like the black dust and fled.

“That will give us some time but the quorens will come back in numbers soon enough. It’s not far now.”

 “Okay, sorry about this Finn but...” Reif raised his voice. “Grim, you need to speed up.”

 

 

Ben ignited his lightsabre, ready to protect her from the beast that stalked her.

“What are you doing? Stop it,” she yelled at him. He felt her annoyance hit him across the bond, realising he’d let his shields slip. He looked at her, a little less certain of his next steps. He didn’t like it when she yelled at him.

“You seem to be unarmed.”

She pulled out her blaster and aimed it at him. Okay, not the smartest assumption he’d ever made.

The beast turned towards him and snarled.

“Put that thing away before you bring the whole damn pack down on us,” she snapped.

Kylo ignored her command at first but could feel the beasts fear and animosity wasn’t just aimed at him but at the glowing red shaft so he flicked the switch and the red blade disappeared. He kept the hilt in his hand at the ready though.

The relief and thanks from Rey was like a balm on his sore spirit that he had no right wanting so much. He quickly put up a barrier to her again.

Rey had put her blaster away and was looking at the beast. It whined and looked about. Kylo reached out with the force as it turned towards him. It would be easy enough to quiet the beast and send it on its way but its mind was aroused and inclined to resist.

“Ben. Stop it. It’s not a threat.”

He looked at her. He really wished she’d stop yelling at him. As he looked at her he realised she hadn’t changed much. The past two years had felt like an aeon to him but she seemed to have weathered it well. There was still a thinness about her, as though rations with the Resistance weren’t much better than they’d been on Jakku. Her clothes were still utilitarian and Jedi-like. Her hair was a little longer than before but still caught back in the simple no fuss style he remembered. Some parts of her had hardened and some had softened. One thing he didn’t remember though were the shadows that lurked in her eyes as they roamed his body as well.

Unconsciously he took a step towards her and the beast growled.

“She thinks she’s protecting me,” Rey said.

Ben huffed. “If anyone needs protecting it’s me. I expect you to shoot me with that blaster any moment now.”

“Oh really, you’re not the one who’s going to be dragged off to the First Order and executed.”

Ben’s anger surged for a moment at the thought of anyone even daring to suggest such a fate for her. It cooled when he reminded himself that not dragging her back to the Supremacy for execution would be considered anything less than treason by the entire First Order from Hux down.

Ben bit the inside of his lip. He was the Supreme Leader. His word was law. He commanded millions. He was totally stumped about what to do next with this girl…apart from staring at her like a gormless teenager. His experience told him to tread carefully though. She wasn’t against teaching him a painful lesson or two. Although she hadn’t yet threatened him with the lightsabre he knew she had...somewhere. Maybe she’d put it away so as not to annoy the beast that stood next to her.

The beast’s ears pricked and it growled again but this time it wasn’t looking at him. With a snarl it leapt into a run and passed by him, heading off down the road.

In that moment Rey turned to flee.

“Oh no you don’t,” he snapped and charged after her. They crashed through the underbrush, at least he did. Rey flung branches back at him to slow him down. He used the force to break them until he realised that was slowing him down too. In the end he just dodged and ploughed on after her, using the force to ensure his footing. He tried to get a sense of the surrounding landscape but something was blocking him. It was coming from Rey. She was using the force to confuse and burden him. He pulled on the force and pushed back in the same way. And found it just sapped his power. Or maybe that was part of the technique she was using.

He met her defences head on and used his power to storm through it all and close the gap between them. He heard Rey’s furious yelp as he grabbed her arm. Her blaster came up again but this time he grabbed her other hand, yanked her around and grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the blaster.

She twisted out of his grip and he felt that wave of weariness come over him again. She was off and running again before he even realised he’d let her go. He roared as he drew on the force to smash through her defences again. It took a great deal of focus to catch up to her again, charging through the underbrush like a hungry Rancor.

This time he leapt and caught her around the waist, ignoring the shriek of surprise and wrath that came from her lips and took them both down among the moss and wildflowers growing on the forest floor. Almost too late he realised if he landed on top of her in the way they were falling he may well break or dislocate her shoulder. Before they hit the ground he rolled and took most of the force of their fall on his back. Her snarl of frustration put him on guard but he sensed she was past fighting back after the fall knocked the breath out of the both of them.

She recovered first and scrambled up on top of him. She elbowed him in the ribs and kneed him in the upper thigh, causing him to wince, before she pinned him down.  She held his forearms above his head and her knees dug into the ground on either side of his hips. All he needed now was for her to sit across his groin to be totally helpless. How had he so easily become her captive? A wicked whisper in his mind told him it was because he wanted to be. He ignored it.

Their gazes locked although his peripheral vision told him her hair was full of leaves and her satchel had slid down and rested on her thigh. He could feel the thigh strap for her blaster holster pressing into his hip. Her hands, locked over his forearms, were as delicate and strong as ever. He dared not look down and get a full view of the gaping v of her dishevelled swathes and undershirt.

He should be angry, affronted at being bested again, struggling to gain the upper hand. Instead he was happy to lie there and take in the beauty of her eyes, soft freckled skin, pink lips that held a hint of a predatory grin and wisps of hair curling about her cheeks. He was so entranced all he could do was wait for what she did next.

Which happened to be allowing her gaze to roam up and down his body, stopping at the open neck of his surcoat and back to his mouth. After a heart stopping moment her gaze slowly wandered back to his eyes. She sucked in a lip and bit it. He should say something to break the tension between them but some kind of fog had entered his head and messed with that part that came up with appropriate things to say. So of course the part of his brain that thought up inappropriate things to say jumped at its chance and…

“Still like what you see.”

Her mouth dropped open for a moment then she scowled. It didn’t stop the blush that coloured her cheeks an enchanting hue of pink.

She was too fast. He almost stopped her but it was less than a moment from when he felt her reaching and she had his sabre in her hand and ignited it above his neck. He tensed. No she wouldn’t. Would she?

“Don’t move.”

Okay, that was good. If he was an obedient captive she’d be nice.

Her gaze was steady, unflinching and…curious. He took a calming breath. He had to say something before he did something dangerous. Not that he would think it was dangerous, whatever it was he did. It was just that anything he did with her turned out to be dangerous.

Like a lunatic he smiled.

“Thief. Where’s your sabre,” he said.

Her gaze was uncertain. Yes, there was something wrong. He could feel it, frustration, annoyance with him and…guilt. That was a surprise.

“What have you done with it? It was gone when I woke so you must have taken it.”

Rey pressed her lips together and scowled, refusing to answer. He tried to see but she shut him out of her mind. Unexpectedly she stood up, her feet either side of his hips, but kept his sabre still pointed at his neck. The vulnerability of his position couldn’t be overstated.

“We broke it.”

Oh. The blinding light. Of course. They broke the crystal. And she hadn’t been able to fix it.

And instead of making a new one she was determined to fix the old one. Still a scavenger.

“Still holding on to old stuff. Make a new one Rey.”

Her scowl barely covered her uncertainty. He gingerly tried to raise his head in preparation for getting up. The tip of his sabre zinged past the tip of his nose and back to his neck.

“I said don’t move.”

He swallowed, laying his head back down. This was getting ridiculous.

“So, what do you plan to do next,” he said. She was chewing that lip again and he could feel her uncertainty.

“Rey, we need to talk but it’s a little hard to do that down here.”

He could feel her about to back off.

The distant growl and sputter of an approaching engine caught their attention. They both looked left and sure enough there was a road not far away from where they were. Ben looked up at her. She looked down at him. No, she wasn’t going to be distracted and give him a chance. A perverse sense of pride zinged through his chest. What she’d learned from him (stolen really) as well as whatever else she’d learned had made her instincts and powers grow stronger. Beauty and power and here she was, standing over him with his own blade of death at his neck while the world chose that moment to sail by like a voyeur and watch the Supreme Leader of the First Order yield to the lady Jedi of his dreams.

A baying sound pierced the air above the sound of the engine, causing the hair all over his body to stand on end. Rey looked about. Their beastly friend was back and apparently it had friends now. It was a hunt. They could both feel the fear of the hunted and the purpose of the hunters.

When the speeding vehicle came into view around a corner Ben ground his teeth and tried to get up.

“Don’t move,” Rey snapped, his sabre still buzzing at his neck. He muttered something uncouth under his breath and Rey raised an eyebrow.

It was General Hux. Of course it was. He’d found a speeder and was being chased by a pack of forest beasts. The General’s panicked stare landed on the scene of his Supreme Leader beside the road at the complete mercy of the Jedi. Something speculative entered his eye but the snapping and baying of the beasts reminded General Hux of his priorities.

“Hux,” Ben yelled, compelling the man to stop. The panicked officer wasn’t in a frame of mind easy to control, being in full flight mode, and his own vulnerable position made it hard for Ben to concentrate. Hux sent one shot at Rey with his blaster as he went past but Ben easily deflected that so it went wide, heading uselessly off into the forest. The beasts bayed and snapped all the more and Hux turned back to the road and sped away.

“Hux, you coward,” Ben yelled at his retreating figure. The forests beasts ignored Rey and his lightsabre this time and continued after Hux.

His anger blinded him to Rey’s rising turmoil at first but it soon became obvious. The hand holding his sabre wavered and he used the force to knock it away and send her tumbling. He was up and hunting her to the ground again and this time he pinned her down.

“No. Let me go. I have to go back. Stop it. Ben.”

“Go back where.”

She looked up at him, her body going still. Her mouth and mind closed. It didn’t take long to put two and two together though.

“The storm trooper. I sensed him with you before but you sent him away. And now somehow Hux has killed him and taken the speeder you were in.”

“He’s not dead.” Her voice was sharp, afraid. A nasty jealous streak wreaked havoc across his heart before he snuffed it out with Kylo Ren’s cold hearted uncaring.

“He may as well be,” Ben said with more venom than he anticipated.

Rey’s eyes narrowed. “He’s not dead and I’m going to help him.” He felt her pulling on the force and was ready when he felt the burden of care weigh him down. He smashed through it again with his own power. This was ever their problem they were too well matched. They could only gain an advantage when one made a mistake. And sooner or later they both made mistakes.

“You know that won’t work now that I know what you’re doing,” he said. A rock jumped up and flew at him and he deflected it to one side.

“Rey stop it.”

“Let me go, I have to help him.” He looked down at her, her rising emotions beating at his senses like a wild animal. This was the thing that always got to him. Torn between the desire to protect and care for her and the fear of losing her. He couldn’t do the first if he let the second rule his actions and if he backed off to stop his fears from hurting her then she would run, leaving him alone.

Hurting her was too much though and so he let her go. He sat back on the mossy ground as she scrambled to her feet. He would follow her of course but…

Her voice cut through his weary thoughts.

“If you let me help him and then let him go I’ll stay with you.”


	3. Chapter 3

Ben stared up at her, not sure he’d heard her right. Her eyes regarded him unwaveringly and her emotions held no guile. Her chest rose and fell as she took an unsteady breath. Something warm snuck into his heart along with the little light that already burned there. She was going to stay with him….if he let her help the traitor.

Kylo seethed at the thought. The traitor should be dead by Hux’ hand but if he wasn’t… his hand automatically went to where his sabre would normally have been clipped to his belt. He looked about and reached out a hand to where it lay on the ground. Rey made no move to stop him as it slipped comfortably into his hand. She let him take his power back, leaving herself without a weapon and without pressing for an agreement. Trusting him. He swallowed. She shouldn’t trust him.

His heart flipped as the full import of her words and actions sank in. It was Ben looking at her again now. She meant it when she said she would stay with him. She would let herself be in his power…if he played this right. If he didn’t give her a reason to leave. It didn’t quite fill that aching hole in his heart but it came close. She would stay _if_ it would help her friend…but she would stay.  Maybe he could convince her to stay just for him. She’d come to him once before hadn’t she.

He pushed himself to his feet and towered over her. She looked deceptively delicate and unerringly sincere. She had shown her trust in him but could he trust her? Just as she’d come to him once before she’d run away again. But…if she would stay this time. He wanted her to stay. He clamped his mouth shut to stop from falling over himself to agree to her terms. When he finally spoke it was to bring up old things he hadn’t meant to but couldn’t help.

“You’ll join with me to rule…”

“No.”

At least that was honest. He wondered if she’d want him to teach her but abandoned that idea. If anything there seemed to be things she could teach him.

“But you’ll stay with me.”

“Yes.”

Kylo Ren was puzzled by her intentions – and if they were honourable. There was a spark in her eye that threatened his jealously guarded self-control.

Ben Solo just wanted to dance.

Kylo Ren decided this was a bad sign.

Ben Solo didn’t care. She trusted him and would stay with him.

His breathing grew shaky as hers grew calm. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. She was waiting, a hint of a smile softened her already luscious lips. He wasn’t sure which part of him finally gave her an answer and he was shocked to hear the word come tumbling out of his mouth.

“Agreed.”

Surprise filled her gaze. Had she not expected him to agree? Good. She had surprised him with her offer, her trust, and now he’d surprised her too. He’d surprised himself as well but he would think about that later.

For an awkward moment it felt as though something more should happen to seal this deal. A deal in which he hadn’t even made the slightest effort to press for his own terms. A deal in which she made no move to maintain any power over him. A distant booming began in his ears and settled in his chest somewhere around his heart. He was unaware that his gaze had wandered to her soft pink lips until he noticed how they parted. He swallowed, caught between the desire to possess her and the knowledge that his passion would only scare her away again.

He saw the colour rise in her cheeks as her eyes skittered away and she sucked in her bottom lip to bite it. Ben, or was it Kylo, maybe both, felt a little of their self-control slip away. A rumbling sound reverberated within him that found an echo in her. The bond threatened to come back in all its roaring intensity from the quiet place it currently slept in. His skin erupted in goose bumps. They had drawn closer to each other without realising. In a panic he dragged his gaze back to her eyes, their soft dark green gold depths threatening to undo him all over again.

He sucked in a slow breath to settle himself. Rey blinked, stepped back a little then nodded. She opened her mouth as if to say something then shut it when her face grew red again. Without warning she spun away from him and took off at a sprint to look for her friend.

“Wait. Rey.” She was disappearing fast and so he leapt into action, running after her. His longer legs eating up the ground between them now that he wasn’t hampered by tree branches and underbrush.

“Rey, wait, we should get my ship. We’ll find him faster…” As the words came out of his mouth he realised that if he could get her to his ship then he could carry her away to the Supremacy. As he was thinking about this he was also thinking that to kidnap her again like that would violate the hasty deal they had just struck. Thirdly he realised she would see right through him and know what his plans were, which meant they would fail and she would know he had just tried to break the deal they had made and right now…that deal meant everything to him.

“It hasn’t been that long. We’ll find him on foot soon enough,” Rey yelled over her shoulder without breaking her stride.

Ben was both relieved and annoyed. Relieved that his plans to kidnap her had been nipped in the bud before they even got to being plans (and whatever disaster followed) and annoyed that kidnapping her would have saved him a whole load of trouble. But no, he was now going to have to do this the hard way. Her way. A whisper in his mind said it was the way he would do things if he wasn’t the Supreme Leader.

He gritted his teeth and kept running. He found it easy enough to keep up with her but his clothes were hot in the weather of this planet and hampered his progress. He had no intention of leaving anything behind so he bore with it. He wondered now if his cowl had been the best choice. His cape would have hampered him crashing through the shrubbery but the cowl about his neck was hot. He envied Rey her simple clothes now.

He watched her easy stride and the way her swathes flowed behind her as she ran. Little bits of her hair were working their way free and curling about her face. Her breathing was fast but not laboured. He watched the way her curves worked gracefully and evocatively in spite of her practical exterior. Every time he peeked at her he told himself not to look for too long or he would fall flat on his face.

He reminded himself it wouldn’t be the first time he’d landed unceremoniously at her feet and made a concerted effort to keep his eyes frontward.

They rounded a bend in the road and the methodical sound of old droid parts working, accompanied by the crunch of something being dragged along the dirt, came to their ears.

 “Finn,” Rey cried out and sped up. Ben slowed as he took in the scene. An antique astromech droid was dragging a makeshift stretcher with a body on it. A boy walked beside the stretcher. The body wasn’t just a body though. It was the traitor and he twisted about to look for Rey. Ben clenched a fist and felt an ache beginning in his head. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, pulling his cowl away from his neck again.

He watched as Rey knelt over FN2187, or as she called him, Finn. Not that Finn was his name. He was wounded and from what he could tell it wasn’t good. The boy spoke up. A scruffy urchin that reminded him too much of the first time he’d seen Rey. It seemed he had medical supplies and his droid could do some medical procedures.

If it had been Rey who was wounded Ben would have whisked her off to the Supremacy and ensured she had the best medical care. As it was, if a few bacta packs and an old droid was enough to fix the traitor, so be it. At least it would make it easier to send him back to…wherever the Resistance was. Now that he had Rey by his side his determination to find the Resistance waned.

He took another step too close and the traitor saw him. The business end of a blaster and a dark glare was his only greeting. Not surprising since the last time they met Ben had sliced his back open. Finn snarled at him.

“What is he doing here?”

 

 

Finn had felt the world brighten again when he heard Rey’s voice. He hadn’t lost his friend. He desperately wanted to get back to Rose but the thought of going home without Rey had gutted him. Now that she was here the world seemed to right itself.

Until the dark figure of his nightmares stepped into view. He reached for the blaster by his side on instinct, fear coursing through him.

What was Kylo Ren doing here?

Rey put a hand on his shoulder. He could read her guilty expression a mile off.

“I’m sorry Finn, it was the only way I could help you.”

Finn never took his eyes off the enemy. “I’m not afraid of you anymore.” Which was true, sort of, but he was afraid for others.

Finn kept a grip on his blaster and made sure it was aimed directly at Ren. It didn’t matter how many blaster holes he had in him he wasn’t going to bow to this murderous tyrant. Sure, the blaster wasn’t going to save him against the power of Kylo Ren but just like on Starkiller he would go down fighting.

Rey said something about not getting hurt. Finn thought of Reif. He would have to make sure the kid didn’t get hurt either.

Rey shook his shoulder, distracting him for a moment. Her face, gentle, pleading, looked down at him.

“He promised to let you go.” Finn wasn’t sure he heard that right.

“What.”

“It’s alright. I made him promise.” _Promise._ Who did she think they were dealing with here?

“Rey, what are you saying?”

“We’ll help you get back to the Resistance.”

Finn’s internal radar clicked into hyper drive.

“You say that like you’re not coming with me.” His world began to spin again. He couldn’t leave Rey behind with this monster.

“It’s okay. Finn, let’s just get you to where we can get you mended. We’ll talk about this stuff later.”

“Rey, I’m not liking this.”

Finn turned to Kylo Ren ready to blast him. The monster was looking at Rey.

Finn’s stomach dropped. Oh no. No, no, no. Kylo Ren was more than just _looking_ at Rey.

He’d seen that look on a guy before. He’d seen it in Snap when he looked at Kare’s hologram. He saw it in Nien when he looked at Ghava. And it was probably the same way he looked at Rose if they’d been fighting and hadn’t spoken for a while. Soft, hungry, longing eyes.

No. It was just his fevered brain. He was wounded. His view was distorted. His brain was playing tricks because he was missing Rose. Kylo Ren was not in love with Rey.

He looked at Rey. The same sweet, pragmatic, ‘not interested in that sort of stuff’ Rey.

Rey stared back at him, a gentle smile on her face. Finn breathed like she’d given him an unspoken command. No, she wouldn’t fall for Kylo Ren. She was a Jedi. Rey reached out and placed her finger tips on his temple and…

 

 

Rey breathed a sigh of relief as she lowered Finn back against the stretcher, asleep.

“Hey, what did you do,” the kid said and pushed her aside. She put a hand out to steady herself. The kid put a hand on Finn’s shoulder and shook him.

“It’s okay, he’s just sleeping,” Rey said.

“So, you learnt that from me too I see,” Ben said. She ignored the gentle mocking tone of his voice. Rey didn’t want to look at him. She was too tempted to open up to him again and that was dangerous right now, while they were still on opposite sides of the war. She’d missed that feeling of being so close to someone, knowing their thoughts and feeling the way his presence fitted so comfortably with hers. And she didn’t want to feel those feelings again when back there she thought he’d been about to kiss her and she’d… no, don’t think it. Not now, not yet.

The kid lent over and looked into Finn’s face. He held a hand in front of Finn’s mouth and nose, feeling for his breath. He pulled his hand away and blinked.

“He really is okay,” Rey said, tucking the blaster back into Finn’s side. The kid’s wary look grew thoughtful.

“What’s your name kid?” she said.

The boy looked up at Ben for a moment then at her. He lent in to whisper to her.

“He scares me.”

Rey nodded. Yes, that made sense. A thought came to her and she bit her lip. She leaned in sideways like they were two conspirators.

“Can I let you in on a secret?”

He gave her that childish wide eyed look that said yes. She couldn’t quite keep the grin from her face when she noticed Ben’s narrowed gaze, looking like he was trying not to lean in to hear as well, because that would be beneath the Supreme Leader of the First Order.

She turned and whispered in the kid’s ear but was pretty certain Ben could hear anyway.

“That scar on his face proves I can kick his ass if I need to. If he’s mean to you just let me know, okay.”

She could feel Ben’s baleful glare hitting her square in the back of her neck even though she wasn’t looking at him.

The shy smile on the kid’s face was worth it.

“My name is Rey by the way. And you can call him Ben.”

_Rey, don’t use…_

_You really want me to tell him you’re Kylo Ren._

She felt Ben’s emotions dive bomb at the thought. He did care, maybe more than he was willing to admit. His spiralling emotions blinked out like he’d shut a door. She winced. She hadn’t intended for that to happen.

The kid chewed his lip for a moment then said in a wary voice.

“I’m Reif and that’s Grim.”

“Nice to meet you Reif and you too Grim.” The rude reply bleep from Grim made Rey laugh. Ben looked away as though it was all beneath him but Rey could see uncertainty in the way he clenched and unclenched his fist. He compressed his lips and sucked in a breath through flared nostrils as he turned back to them, his eyes turning stormy. Rey spoke in a bright and reassuring voice before Ben, or Kylo Ren, could say something.

“Now we need to get Finn here some help. Where were you taking him?”

Reif looked at Ben again. Ben appeared to make an effort to look a little less imposing and severe. Rey even thought she saw the hint of a smile play about his mouth. At least the boy appeared to trust her enough to give her a reply. He pointed towards a hill in the distance.

“I live there.”

Rey chuckled. It was back the way they had just come. One thing caught her eye though and her amusement died. The black shape of Kylo Ren’s star fighter sitting on top of the hill. Ben had a smug smile on his face now, which she ignored. No doubt he was thinking of stuffing her inside that thing and flying off with her again. If she had her way though, they wouldn’t be leaving in his ship. Or if they did maybe she could convince him to go somewhere other than straight back to the First Order.

“Alright then,” Rey said. “Let’s go.”

Reif gave Grim the order and the old droid puttered off again, dragging Finn, still sleeping, behind him. Rey looked at Ben. He raised an eye brow and magnanimously waved a hand for her to go ahead of him with the little entourage of the boy, his droid and her friend. She didn’t like the thought of him stalking along behind her so she also waved an altruistic hand for him to go as well. He leaned back, looking down at her and folded his arms. She shook her head and sighed.

“Shall we walk together then,” she said. His look grew dark for a moment but then he smirked and, as though they were walking together on the genteel streets of some well-heeled core world in which a gentleman escorted a lady, he offered his arm for her to place a hand upon.

“By all means, let’s.”

She had to admit she was tempted to play the game for just a moment but she was wasn’t quite up to that kind of absurdity. 

“Oh come off it,” she huffed and strode off, puzzled by the bereft feeling that shot through her, unsure if it was her own feelings or if it had come from Ben. This was all getting too complicated. She stared straight ahead even as his long strides brought him easily to her side. They walked in silence for a moment but then he spoke.

“You have become very powerful in the force Rey. You seemed to have learned a great deal without me.” She said nothing. There were definitely things she didn’t want to say on that account.

“Perhaps you were right to refuse my offer to teach you.”

No, she wasn’t going to be pulled into revealing anything.

“Perhaps you could teach me some things.”

Okay, that one threw her off balance. She looked askance at him.

“You stole much of your original knowledge of the force from me. I know this. Maybe, through the bond, you could return the favour.”

Rey coughed. No. The idea intrigued her in spite of herself but no. That would be unwise. She remembered well how he was able to roam her mind and she roamed his in return. There were things he must not see. Perhaps she could guide him away from things she didn’t want him to see but she did not want to take that chance. There was too much at stake. Too close to their final objective…except that…

“What if I were to see things about the First Order of benefit to the Resistance.”

He laughed. “Is that all you want to know about me.”

Rey’s mouth opened and closed as heat bloomed on her cheeks. How was it that he was being genuine and she was assuming the worst again? They walked in silence for a little, the sound of the droid’s puttering works and the scraping of the stretcher on the dirt road reminding them they were not alone. Rey watched as the boy leaned over to check Finn again. Rey was assuaged with another pang of guilt, realising the boy was being more attentive to her hurt friend than she was. She huffed.

“Reif, I would like to say thank you for looking after Finn,” she said. He looked up, his eyes squinting in the sun as it bore down on them. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders as though it was nothing. For a moment she could see herself in this scrappy kid, dressed in functional clothes he’d probably stole or made himself as she had. He was smart and tough but…and here she stopped. She had made the assumption that he would live alone as she had but maybe that wasn’t the case.

“Tell me about your family,” she said. Reif looked away. Rey’s heart stopped and she knew her assumption hadn’t been misplaced. She was reticent to pry into his story, given her own pain.

“The First Order took my brother and killed my parents,” Reif said. No denial. A statement of fact. However, it seemed to Rey as though the facts he knew were just that, facts, divorced from his reality. She could feel an emptiness and longing in him but that he had been spared the pain of memories.

“At least that’s what Grim and Sidebolt said.” Grim bleeped a matter of fact agreement with the boy’s statement. Rey focussed on the other thing Reif had said.  

“Sidebolt.”

“My other droid. They pretty much take care of me although I take care of them now too.”

Rey looked at Ben, who had a scowl on his face. Ben said nothing though. She turned back to Reif. Brought up by droids was at least better than her own lonely struggle. Perhaps…

_Droids are not humans. They’re not parents._

Ben’s voice in her mind made her jump. She turned to Ben again but he was looking away, closed off again, as though he’d revealed something to her he hadn’t meant to. She could feel that he wasn’t in her mind but somehow he’d known what she was thinking.

“You can see my home from here,” Reif said. Grim warbled and sped up a little more. There was nothing obvious at first to indicate a home of any kind in the direction Reif pointed but then she saw something at the base of the hill. It looked like a door. Not the kind of door that a lone forest boy would make his home behind. There were no scavenged durasteel parts, bits of wood or other local materials to make this door. It was something that looked both out of place but like it had been there a thousand years. An overgrown stone recess surrounded a grey door made of something durable and dark beneath the patchy lichen coating.

Rey heard the sound of a First Order troop transport in the distance. Ben watched it as well. Probably here to pick up Hux. Unease settled inside her. Her hand rested on her satchel for a moment. She’d made a promise she wasn’t sure how to keep. The thought of staying with Ben and being taken back to the First Order chilled her. The words making their deal had shot from her mouth before she’d had time to think about them.

The transport flew up and away, leaving them behind. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Ben cursed under his breath. He looked back at her, his eyes hard and his jaw set in a growl. An awareness that felt like a storm of anger, loathing and…fear. It left her reeling for a moment and she quivered as their little party halted.

“What is it?”

He closed his eyes and swallowed then looked up at the sky. Rey realised she could just make out the shadow of an enormous ship somewhere above Lomas. That was his ship. Her gaze travelled back to him. What was he thinking about? She could sneak into his mind and see but that would only create distrust between them.

“We have to get off this planet,” Ben said.

Rey’s scowled. “What?”

“Hux won’t hesitate. He will kill us both if he has to.”

“Ben, what are you talking about?”

Something tingled in the back of Rey’s mind. A warning. Just like the warning back in the markets before the First Order turned up.

Ben spoke to Reif instead. “Your home, how strong is it.”

It was the droid that spoke up in whistles and warbles. Apparently the structure was designed to withstand considerable aerial assault. That was what finally made Rey realise what Ben feared.

“We have to get inside. We have to help Finn and Reif and Grim,” she cried.

The force moved about her, flowing past her. Ben was using the force. He turned to look at his ship on the hill and raised his hands towards it. Rey heard it power up as it lifted off the ground.

A siren went off in Rey’s mind.

“No way. You’re not stuffing me in that thing. I’m staying to help Finn. You promised I would be able to help him.”

“You’re coming with me,” Kylo Ren snarled. Rey felt as though she was back in Snoke’s throne room again, surrounded by destruction and darkness, before she’d had to leave him. No. It couldn’t go that way again.

“I made a promise but so did you.”

Ben’s ship came closer. He sucked in a shaky breath and the ship wobbled. He gritted his teeth and the ship stabilised.

A red light flashed on Ben’s belt buckle. Ben kept one hand outstretched towards the ship but with the other he grabbed his lightsabre and ignited it. With one slash of the side vent he incinerated the flashing red light in the buckle. He turned back to the ship as it hovered overhead. Rey took a step back towards Finn and Reif and the door. It wasn’t far. She could use the force to help get them inside.

And that’s when Master Luke turned up.

“You can’t escape it that way Ben. If you want to save her you’ll have to do it her way.”

Rey nearly tripped when she saw the apparition. Her mouth fell open. He was back.

Ben snarled at the vision to go away and turned back to his ship, spinning it in preparation to land on the road.

“Ben. It’s too late,” Luke said and this time the warning Rey had felt in the marketplace before now echoed in Luke’s voice.

Ben turned and looked at her. It seemed like something teetered on a knife edge. The force whorled about them. That old vision, the one from Ahch-To, wrapped around them, glowing yet fragile. A life together. Rey realised she was seeing it in Ben’s mind as much as her own, as though he’d replayed it a thousand times, just as she had, trying to find some new meaning or hope and as ever being defeated by the reality of war and choices that kept them apart.

Something in Ben softened. Fear and anger tumbled through him, but also something radiant and determined.

 

 

Hux had finally left the beasts behind when he’d emerged from the forest. It seemed they weren’t keen on open plains. He could see a troop transport coming in up ahead and breathed a sigh of relief. Phasma was there to pick him up. He had never been so glad to leave the surface of a planet. If he felt any guilt at leaving Ren behind to the mercy of the Jedi it was short lived. Now he had to make sure that woman never left the planet.

He let the speeder teeter off to the side of the road and roll into a ditch before he blasted it. No point in giving his enemies any assistance if they should find it. A comfortable smile spread across his face as the transport landed and the door opened to show Phasma waiting for him.

“The Supreme Leader has flown to the surface,” Phasma said.

Hux smirked. O, this was going to be good. His smirk disappeared.

No, this was going to be his moment. A grin spread across his face.

“Ah yes, chasing the Jedi girl again,” he said. As the door closed behind him and the transport lifted off.

Phasma turned to look at him. “She is here. He will find her and bring her in.”

“Sadly, I don’t think so,” Hux said. His plans were changing as he spoke. Why wait until tomorrow?

Phasma lifted her head, waiting for him to continue.

“I happened to see our Supreme Leader. He appeared to be in a very vulnerable position. He was lying flat on his back on the ground again. The Jedi had taken possession of his sabre and was about to slice his head off.” Hux hoped that she had already done so but a little itch in his mind warned him that she just might not. The whole Jedi compassion thing was annoying like that.

Phasma lifted her blaster rifle as she peered down at him.

“We should go back to help him.”

He better not overplay this. Phasma held their Supreme Leader in some esteem, unworthy of it as he was. She accepted that his lack of insight regarding troop recruitment was problematic, but she otherwise respected his military prowess and political sensibilities. Something Hux had bitterly swallowed as a fact this past year or so. He let that little pill ameliorate his treacherous glee at the opportunity that now presented itself to him.

“I am certain our Supreme Leader is now either dead or compromised. We both know if we have the opportunity to be rid of the Jedi we must take it.”

“General, I will send a full detachment to retrieve the Supreme Leader and capture the Jedi immediately.”

No, that would not do.

“Captain Phasma, I don’t think you understand the situation. The Jedi is the First Order’s greatest threat. Killing her is more important than any one individual.” Hux schooled a regretful attitude as he spoke his next words. “Whoever that individual may be.”

Phasma straightened and Hux was uncomfortably aware of how much she dwarfed him.

“What are you suggesting General.”

 “I am suggesting it is time to carry out Snoke’s final order.”

Phasma grew very still, her stance ready and lethal.

“Are you certain?”

Hux was getting impatient with her prevarication. “As I said he is either dead or compromised. I barely got away alive. If she is able to so easily turn him aside from his duty then…”

“I would rather we not so quickly abandon any thought of assisting the Supreme Leader. Neither would Colonel Shein or Admiral Savic,” Phasma said.

Hux ground his teeth. Those two bastions of the Empire were ever a couple of thorns in his side that Kylo Ren never seemed inclined to _move on_. He would see about that the moment they docked.

Hux turned away from Phasma and addressed the pilot. “Ensign, we will transfer directly to the Supremacy.”

He turned to Phasma. “Your loyalty is to the First Order, not to a person. Snoke knew better than any of us Kylo Ren’s weakness. It is time to eradicate it from our ranks before it undermines the hard won peace the First Order has brought about in this galaxy.”

Her stance became vaguely threatening, as though she was leaning over him to warn him. Well he had a warning for her as well. His voice was low and venomous.

“There are things that I know you would not wish to answer for at a court martial Captain. But you will face one of you allow this…situation with Kylo Ren to continue.”

Phasma made no move. She knew better than that. Hux turned and ignored her as he looked out at the mega ship looming before them but couldn’t quite keep the smile from his face.

The moment the transport landed on the deck of the cavernous main hangar of the Supremacy he went into action.

“Captain. With me,” he said as he stalked away.

The ride to the bridge was tense but Hux had no intention of letting anyone get in his way this time.

He stepped from the elevator, pursing his lips to keep the smile from his face as he strode forward. Without further ado he pulled a cylinder from his belt and inserted it into the main computer portal on the bridge. He had planned to keep this little surprise for tomorrow but there were so many things that could go wrong tomorrow. If he used his ace now, when it was least expected, he could win the game while everyone was still napping. He could take what was rightfully his.

Hux faced the holo projector and tapped the keys that allowed his projection to appear on all ships and decks.

“This is General Hux. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has been taken captive on the planet below by the Jedi. He is considered compromised or dead from this point on. You will find in your systems Supreme Leader Snoke’s final order. Order number One Two Five. This order is to be carried out without delay. You do not need to do anything. This order will be carried out from the Supremacy.”

There were gasps around the bridge. Frightened faces turned towards him. Others were bemused and still others were calculating. Well, after today they would know who was in charge and who was not to be messed with.

“Yes General,” a voice beside him said. He turned to the young officer and smiled. “I will analyse Supreme Leader Kylo Ren’s actions and location and confirm for you the validity of your assumptions.”

The voice of another young officer rang out across the bridge.

“Yes, General, I will find the best method of execution and present it for action.”

“Yes, General.” The voices that began to comply with his order were exactly those Hux knew would. He smiled at Phasma. His young elite were his shining example of excellence and obedience. Storm troopers were less reliable but these young people had received intensive training and they would do exactly what was required of them.

“General, it is my belief that The Supreme Leader remains on the surface of the planet with the Jedi in a non-combative capacity.” Hux raised an eyebrow as he continued to stare at Phasma.

“General, it is also my belief that the actions of the Supreme Leader in the past day do not comply with First Order final directives.” Well, what do you know?

“General, it is my belief that a simple ion cannon pulse using the Supreme Leader’s locator beacon as a target will accomplish the most effective solution to order one two five.”

“Thank you all for your valuable input,” Hux said. He raised his chin and looked at everyone on the bridge.

“General, I believe we should investigate the situation further before we commit to such drastic action.”

The voice of Admiral Savic behind him caused Hux’ lip to curl. He turned to face the weathered features of the Admiral.

“Order one two five cannot be rescinded and it is my discretion alone that determines its necessity.”

“General, it was Supreme Leader Snoke’s discretion alone that gave the order legality. I do not believe that went to you when Supreme Leader Snoke…passed.”

Hux grinned. He was prepared for this little obstacle. He reached into his pocket and drew out a second cylinder and placed it in the computer.

There was a collective gasp when a hologram of Snoke appeared on the bridge. The burning eyes swept over those present and settled on Hux. The gut reaction Hux experienced as those eyes bore into him, as though from the grave, unsettled him so much he almost leapt to the computer console to turn it off. He took a furtive breath and reminded himself it was only a hologram. The real Snoke was dead.

“General Hux.” Snoke’s image paused and leaned forward just enough to ensure the threat in his voice was meant in every way. Snoke smiled. Hux employed every effort to keep the bile from rising in his throat at the sight.

“I have confirmed my suspicions of Kylo Ren’s treachery. My young apprentice has a weakness. You know of whom I speak. Today I will ensure this weakness is forever removed from my apprentice.”

Snoke leaned back, his eyes became pinpoints of light that seemed to pierce his very soul, his ruined body wheezing slightly as he breathed.

“If everything should not go as I have foreseen then I have entered into the commands of the Supremacy the details of order one two five. It will ensure that Kylo Ren’s weakness and treachery be stopped should I be unable to deal with him myself.” Here the hologram appeared to twitch but to Hux’ relief it continued unnoticed. “I have given you discretion in such an eventuality.”

Hux turned to Savic. “Do you agree that Supreme Leader Snoke has given me clear discretion in ensuring order one two five is carried out when necessary.”

Savic’s eyes narrowed but he did not challenge Hux. That would be his downfall. The moment Kylo Ren was out of the way Hux would purge the First Order of all those whose loyalty to Ren would be…a problem.

“Officer Geddi, continue with your solution for order one two five.”

Geddi began tapping into his console.

A harsh female voice barked out over the bridge, causing everyone, including Hux, to jump.

“Please confirm authority to execute order one two five.” Hux shook off an odd feeling and keyed in the code he had kept hidden away in his mind for so long.

“Please accept my code and voice command,” he said.

“Thank you. This system acknowledges and accepts the information and calculations received. Locating target.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Phasma bit out in hushed tones behind him. Hux raised his chin, keeping his cool in the increasingly panicked faces around him.

“General. Supreme Leader Ren’s ship has powered up and is now moving.” Hux turned to the young officer.

“Can you confirm the Supreme Leader is on that ship?”

“Sir, The Supreme Leader’s locator beacon no longer appears on my scope.”

The computer voice interrupted Hux reply.

“Reacquiring target to last known location.”

The hair on the back of Hux neck stood on end.

“Firing.”

A burst of green ion cannon fire shot towards the planet. Hux smothered the momentary terror that he had missed his target and spoke to Geddi in a carefully controlled tone.

“Report.”

Geddi’s voice was pleasingly matter of fact when he answered. “Everything on the surface over a two hundred meter radius from the impact point has been destroyed. For a further five hundred meter radius damage sustained was considerable and unlikely to be survived.”

Hux calmed his terror and euphoria and addressed the silent bridge.

“As the leader of the First Order Military forces I declare it is my duty to continue to ensure the power of the First Order remains intact to rule this galaxy.” Hux felt a thrill of victory as he spoke those words. His next statement nearly made him dizzy as the words floated from his lips.

“As such I will assume the duties of Supreme Leader until a more appropriate person is found for the title.”

And Hux would ensure he was the only one available who could be deemed appropriate for the title.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben’s head ached worse than it had from one of Snoke’s ‘lessons’. Dust stung his eyes and made him cough. A dim light flickered above doing little to illuminate the scene around him. He pulled up his cowl to cover his mouth and nose. Had the Supremacy been attacked?

There were no klaxon alarms, flashing red lights or shouting personnel. Instead there was an eerie silence broken only by the faint whir and clunk of machinery. Ben forced himself to sit up and look around. He barely got halfway before he lay back down with a groan. His head still hurt.

He blinked and tried to focus. His body tensed. He wasn’t on the Supremacy, or any other ship. Memories flooded back into his mind. He felt a familiar presence and his heart flipped.

“Rey.” He craned his head to look for her. Panic rose up inside him when he couldn’t find her.

“I’m okay Ben.” Relief filled him at the sound of her voice behind him. He pushed himself up again, ignoring the pain in his head until he found the outline of her physical form in the shadows. He glowered at her as she knelt over the traitor where he lay on his stretcher.

Ben knew he was being an idiot but it irked him that she’d checked on the traitor first before she came to him. He pushed the thought aside, of course she would check on her friend first.

He tried to gain an impression of whether she was hurt in the recalcitrant lighting. He reached out to her in the force and detected no pain. Her hair had fallen down though and skimmed about her face and neck in dark silken swathes. He could make out a tremulous smile on her face. His heart stopped and stared at her as she approached.

“We only just made it inside before that cannon blast hit. I think we got hit with some of the blast wave before the door shut,” she said. She came close and in the flickering light he saw that her gaze traveled over him before returning his own gaze. She sat next to him and he noticed that the dust on her face had been smeared away from her eyes by hasty hands but it had ended up in dirty streaks across her cheeks.

Instinctively he pulled his cowl off and used it to clean her face. She blinked and flinched as he wiped away the dust. Realising what he was doing he pulled back. Her initial surprise morphed into a wicked glint though as she snatched his cowl and began wiping the dust off his own face with playful swipes. He remained still, resisting the urge to grab her and…

Rey stopped and handed him back his cowl. They both looked away, dazed by the sweet intimacy of their little game.

Ben took a breath and focused on other recent events. Hux had gone the big guns in an attempt to assassinate him. The door they now hid behind had held but only just. Whatever its construction, it was more than just sturdy. And possibly very old. Was it was some kind of old rebel bolt-hole? It seemed older than that.

He also remembered that he’d sent his ship soaring off along the roadway in an attempt at a distraction. Perhaps it had given them a second or two. Perhaps not.

He remembered one last thing and grew still. He looked at Rey and saw the two little creases that formed between Rey’s brows as they remembered the same thing. Uncle Luke had been there too. Damn that old man wouldn’t leave him alone. Always though there was some kind of warning, like Luke was trying to keep him alive. Although, after what he’d pulled on Crait it kind of made sense. At least Ben wasn’t afraid anymore, or even annoyed. Maybe he even liked that his uncle hung around to help him out every now and again. If his life depended on it.  

Rey didn’t look happy.

“He spoke to you but he didn’t even look at me,” she said. Ben opened his mouth to say something sarcastic when he felt the little trickle of hurt that ebbed through Rey for being ignored.

“Um, I don’t think Hux gave us much time for proper introductions,” he muttered. She nodded and smiled and looked away. Ben looked around for something to change the subject.

“What are you two talking about.” They jumped as they realised the boy was there. Rey and Ben looked at each other but neither felt it was a good idea to continue their discussion about Luke.

“Are you okay Reif?” Rey said “Where were you?”

Reif waved a hand at the dodgy light above. “Just trying to fix a few things.” Fortunately he didn’t wait for an answer to his original question before he scampered off again.   

“What is this place?” Ben said.

Reif answered in the precocious tones of a child. “It’s some kind of old temple. At least that’s what Grim said. Sidebolt doesn’t seem to know.”

Ben looked about. The kid was fiddling with something on the wall but he couldn’t tell what in the dim light.

The flickering light above went out and he stared into the darkness. Without thinking he reached out for Rey in the force and she brushed across his mind, a reassurance. His relief was quickly followed by embarrassment at being a needy kid afraid of the dark. He felt no judgement from Rey. Perhaps she knew that it was in the dark when Snoke would come in earnest through the force when he was younger.

He pulled into himself a little and again Rey brushed against his mind with warmth. The feeling made him tremble, like he’d been caressed by a gentle breeze in the force. He’d felt it before, at times when he’d been almost blind with despair. His breathing stopped as realisation grew inside him. She’d been there and he hadn’t even realised. He forced himself to breathe again as longing rose up inside him. Maybe he had realised, he just couldn’t see it. He’d wanted her so much but he couldn’t bear the thought of her not being there with him so he’d shut down on her too.

The flight flickered on again but was no better than before. The kid stepped back to tinker with what Ben could see now was a key pad that was hooked up to an overhead light globe. Ben was about to go and help him when Rey’s fingers lay gently in his shoulder. All thought disappeared as electricity shot through him. His heart staggered but managed to regain its rhythm before he revealed too much of what her touch did to him.

He let her take the floor and help the boy. He watched them work together, un-phased that she had pre-empted his intentions and happy to just watch her interact with the boy. A little ache of longing gripped him as he watched the two.

The overhead light stopped flickering and glowed brighter. The air also began to clear as the hum of internal filters kicked in. Ben looked around the newly illuminated space they were in as the lingering dust cleared away.

There was a short corridor that lead further into the mountain before it ended at another door. On either side of the corridor stairs disappeared into the stone walls, one leading up and the other leading down. The walls were indeed hand cut from a dark stone. In spite of the walls obvious age, there was little sign of decay. No lichens or running water marks, just the mottling of time and…cleaning. Droids, of course, the kid had droids.  

There was a groan from the other side of the room in response to the light. Ben looked over at the prone form of the traitor as he began to rouse. The droid that had been towing him on the stretcher now dragged the stretcher towards the door at the end of the corridor. Ben got up and strode over to the end of the stretcher and looked down at the man who lay at his feet. He reached out in the force and gave the ex-storm trooper a little tweak so he went back to his slumber.

It had all started with him. A storm trooper who had been afraid and run away. And Ben had let him. Why? He’d asked himself that question too many times to want to know the answer any more. The trouble this storm trooper had caused him and yet, if it hadn’t been for this…Finn, he’d have never met Rey.

A pull in the force. That’s what it had been. A pull that seemed to nag at him even now. He wasn’t sure he wanted to follow that pull again.

The kid let out a yip of success and the door in front of the droid slid back. Without acknowledging anyone the droid trundled on through, dragging the traitor with him.

“You’re back. I was so worried.”

The voice from inside the door was electronic. A protocol droid by the sound of it. Reif ran past Ben on light feet and disappeared inside. More lights and machinery started up as the boy passed momentarily from their sight. 

“Sidebolt. We need help. Finn here is wounded.”

“Oh. Oh, I see. Yes, we still have supplies here somewhere and I’m sure I can activate the medical bay.”

Rey went to follow Reif through the door then stopped. She turned to Ben. His feet were rooted to the spot. Something had been growing the moment the inside door had opened.

“Are you coming?”

Ben looked around. He didn’t belong here. He was a malignant invader to this place, this boy’s humble home. It wasn’t that he felt he was too good for a place like this. It was that he shouldn’t even be invited in such a carefree way. He was still the monster and he shouldn’t be here to destroy this kid’s world. Because that’s what would happen if he took one more step inside.

In fact he should go back out and see if his ship had survived the cannon blast.

“Ben.”

Rey had drawn close to him, her face full of gentle concern. She shouldn’t be looking at him like that. Surely destruction would follow him here too, leaving these lives in ruin too when he left. He had to get out before that happened. He stepped back.

“Ben. What’s wrong?” He shook his head.

She stepped closer to him again and he stepped away. Panic gripped him and he turned to go back out the way he’d come. He raised a hand and used the force to open the door.

“Stop.” The voice came from a speaker above the door, the droid voice. “Do not go outside. It is still dangerous. I detect fires and contamination. Please come inside. I must seal the external chamber for safety.”

Ben hesitated. Fear rose up inside him. He had to get out or everything would be destroyed. He tried again to open the door. It locked against his efforts. Fear stabbed at him anew. Somewhere in his mind he remembered that fear held power. Kylo Ren rose up and pulled the force to him to use it against the doors.

She came with it through their bond. Open and warm and gentle. Kylo trembled at the feeling of her in the force, flowing into him through the bond, calming his fears. He felt her behind him, her hand on his shoulder. The power he’d gathered shivered and he lost the sense of it as something bright warred against his fear. He was like a massive short circuit and he didn’t know what to do about it. All he knew was that she’d caused it.

He spun about, lashing out without thinking.

“Don’t touch me. Leave me alone.”

She stepped back. Hurt in her eyes. It was like someone had taken a blow torch to his heart. Searing hurt burned into him. He knew he was feeling what she felt at that moment but it was the same for her too. She felt his fears and frustration and together they were a maelstrom of fear and hurt that neither could bear.

Kylo withered and died a little more in the barrage of emotion, leaving Ben alone again to weather the storm.

_You’re not alone_

Yes, he was alone. She’d left him. He pushed her out. He saw the hurt on her face but he ignored it. He turned away and put his hand against the door, breathing in and out.

“Ben. I’m…”

His barked words cut her off.

“Don’t say it. It’s not true.” He hated himself immediately for yelling at her like this but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want her comfort. He was the monster. It was the only way he could stop himself from breaking apart.

Her voice was stern to cover the hurt he knew she felt. “Ben, we have to go in. We’re endangering the others by staying here.”

With that she turned and walked away from him. Oh yes, she was walking away from him like he should simply give up and follow. Like he was just supposed to do what he was told. Like…like…

…like the idiot he was he followed her down the little corridor towards the inner door, not wanting to be left behind.

What was wrong with him? He’d lost it again. Since he’d killed Snoke so much of his conflict had gone. His eyes settled on her back. Yes, it was her. And this time it was just her. He clenched his fist and shook his head. He’d settled back into the comforting darkness of his despair and now she was here to offer hope, and something more. No wonder he was losing it.

The moment he was inside the door shut smoothly behind him with a gentle but firm pressure seal. He felt as though more than just air and people had been sealed in and he breathed letting the force take his fears.

He looked about. This wasn’t any kind of temple he’d ever seen. To be honest it looked like the inside of a small cruiser, or freighter even. A ship inside a mountain. Curiosity finally snagged his attention.

He stood in another corridor that lead towards a central area ahead. Rooms lead off this corridor but he didn’t even look into them. He followed Rey into what could only be described as a lounge. A lounge in which the kind of junk a child would collect sat in various corners and atop various surfaces.

It reminded him of his father’s ship. A shudder rocked him. It was bigger than his father’s ship but with no mangled wires and battered surfaces. Actually it looked like it was regularly cleaned by a droid and then junked again by the boy who was their host. A smile snuck its way onto his lips as more old memories of Chewie and his father flittered into his mind before he pushed them away.  

Grim was disappearing with Finn into a brightly lit room off the lounge area. Rey and Reif were following them so he followed too.

There was a whirring sound and the shape of a droid’s head, torso and finally arms emerged from a surface next to what looked like a bed. Ben blinked. It was an interfaced droid integral to this…ship (it was the only way he could think of the place they were in). Somehow the droid was able to transfer from room to room. It had an ancient construction with a smooth, matt bronze surface, similar to a protocol droid but with a more streamlined appearance. Its eyes were blue and its movements were more organic than almost any droid he’d seen before. He sensed that its lack of mobility was amply compensated for by being totally integrated with the ship.

“Quickly now. Put him on the bed.” Metal arms worked with flesh arms to move the ex-trooper onto the bed. Ben used the force to add a little push as they hauled him up. Rey looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he turned away to continue looking around.

Ben felt something tingle in recognition about this place again. But he couldn’t place it, other than to say that something about the force and the light _lurked_ about this place.

Finn was quickly ensconced onto the medical bed. The droids began to work on his wounds.

“It’s alright master Reif,” the second droid (Sidebolt he remembered now). “We will take care of him now. You should show your other guests to some refreshments. It is the proper thing to do as a host.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, come this way, I’ll show you where the kitchen is.” Reif watched Finn for a moment then waved a nonchalant hand for Rey and Ben to follow back to the lounge and into another room that was obviously a kitchen. Another version of Sidebolt emerged from the kitchen bench. This time it was silver with gold eyes. The voice was the same.

“Now who are your friends Master Reif,” Sidebolt inquired. Ben wasn’t sure he should be referred to as a friend. The boy spoke easily as Sidebolt worked, of all things, a caf machine. Things began to feel surreal.

“This is Rey,” he pointed to Rey and smiled. “And…um, this is Ben.” Ben didn’t get a smile. “Finn is the one that you and Grim are working on in the med bay,” the boy said. Ah, it seemed Sidebolt had solved the problem of being in two places at once.

“Very nice to meet you Sidebolt,” Rey said as Reif handed her a cup of caf prepared by Sidebolt. Ben watched as she gave him another winning smile and wondered at her ability to be so natural with almost anyone, in spite of her inner loneliness. He was enraptured again by her ever hopeful and optimistic view of life that gave her an easy grace with people.

Sidebolt had made another cup of caf while he’d been staring at Rey. The boy took it and lifted the cup to him with a wary look on his face. Ben looked down and spoke gently, remembering what it was like to be intimidated by some of his mother’s overbearing visitors.   

“Thanks kid,” he said and took the cup. He froze. That had not just come out of his mouth. It was the kind of thing his father would have said, calling someone kid. The boy even smiled back.

“Feel free to head back to the middle and put your feet up. I’m going to go and see what’s happening with Finn.”  The boy turned and rushed out of the kitchen, waving his hand towards a row of seats in the lounge that seemed old but comfortable enough.

Ben placed his cup back on the bench. Rey had smiled at him when he’d spoken to the kid but her face grew pensive now. Ben felt his world tilt and he turned and marched back to the main lounge area as the boy suggested.

His mind began to spin. This morning he was on the Supremacy, commanding the galaxy, in despair but in control. Now he was wandering around the strange and obscure home of a waif he’d started to call kid with the woman he’d dreamed of almost every night since Crait by his side while she smiled at him and looked concerned for him. It couldn’t be real? Somehow his fantasies had taken over and soon he would wake up on the Supremacy having been relieved of duty by Hux for some kind of…episode.

He had to focus. Hux had just tried to assassinate him…and that mattered…at least that’s what his rational brain was telling him. Rey’s presence always seemed to circumvent his rational brain. He felt as though he’d wandered out on a limb somewhere and it had been duly cut off, leaving him in free fall.

Except, he’d chosen to be here. The moment Rey had called he’d left his First Order life behind and had chosen a new one. He just hadn’t realised until now that he’d done that.

No, that was crazy. He was Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of…of…kriffing nothing anymore.

He felt Rey behind him and spun and stepped back, keeping just a little space between them.

“Ben.” His real name again. How could he keep up this façade of being the Supreme Leader when she insisted on using his old name?

Who was he kidding? He barely thought of himself as Kylo Ren these days.

“Ben, are you alright.” He wanted to hold her.

“I’m fine,” he said. He wasn’t. But then he was good at lying to himself wasn’t he.

“They just tried to kill you,” she said.

He nodded. “Yes.” It didn’t matter. He sucked in a shaky breath as that last thought hit him again, this time at hyperspeed. It didn’t kriffing matter that Hux had just tried to kill him. He’d known what Hux was up to. What was different was that Ben had chosen to let it happen, because he’d chosen to be with Rey. Because he didn’t care about the First Order any more. He didn’t actually care. A chuckle escaped his lips. His whole life had been about his destiny, ruling the galaxy. Now here he was, not giving a wamp rat’s ass about the galaxy. All he cared about was the girl standing in front of him.

The concerned look on her face only made him laugh more. In one smooth action he went to her, grabbed her about the waist and lifted her up and spun her around.

She let out a shriek as her cup of caf went flying. He’d get her another one. He was laughing and smiling into her surprised face and spinning and…

…and it all came crashing down in a moment.

He was still the murderer. His father’s loving face fell away into the void. Yes, he was still the monster. The monster who deserved to be alone. He stopped spinning, gently put her down and backed away again. That last image of his father played in his mind again as it had a million times before. He had no right to be happy. No right.

The caf forgotten she came after him, her eyes bright with love and dark with sadness.

His world was spinning. He was spinning. His back hit a wall. He used it to keep himself on his feet. He reached for the force to give him calm but this time it was like chasing smoke. He panicked and dove into the dark side of the force, determined to find the strength he needed to stay upright. He slammed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. Fear, anger, hatred. Let it all be power to him.

She touched his hand and he shivered, gasping in surprise. How could her touch do this to him? Sparks of heat and light spread through him from the contact, blazing through him in a startling wave of comfort that swamped his every fear with love. The dark side fled, leaving him weak and wondering. He opened his eyes to find her looking into his soul. Her touch was warm and gentle and calming, his racing heart beginning to slow. A thin sweat broke out over his skin in response to her. He remembered why he wanted her so much. She was the other side of his dark soul. She was the hope to his despair. The compassion to his vengeance. The love to his loneliness.

He felt the wonder as she opened her mind up to him. He tried not to see. He could hurt her. But he felt her loneliness too. Yes, just like him, she’d been doing what she had to do to forget and now…

He felt his knees buckle as he continued to stare at her and began to slide down the wall. She came with him, her gaze locked with his. They slid into a heap on the floor together, a tangle of legs and arms. He didn’t resist when she pulled him against her shoulder. He didn’t know how long they sat unmoving while Sidebolt quietly extended arms and utensils to clean up Rey’s spilt caf then disappeared into the insides of the ship.

 

 

Rey knew she was being sucked in again to the dark exciting storm that was Ben Solo but from the moment she’d contacted him through the force things between them had been moving at light speed and she wasn’t sure she wanted it to slow down. That undeniable bond between them just kept pulling them together and she didn’t want to fight it any more. They were both a mess under all the layers of power and propriety.

But she’d seen the flash of memory in his mind.

“You think of him often. Your father.” His arms tightened about her and he buried his face in her neck. Rey could barely breathe and not just because he held her so tight. Being in his arms was doing crazy stuff to her insides. He was making it damn hard to keep her head together.

“I know you miss him,” her voice a whisper. She felt his self-loathing rise.

“He loved you in spite of everything. Of that I’m sure.”

“I’d do almost anything to change that moment.”

She just held him as a shudder wracked his form.

 “I thought I could get rid of my past. I thought if I could be free of it I could be better, stronger, that all the pain would go away.” He laughed, a self-mocking sound that held only a fraction of the bitterness it covered. His eyes found hers.

“I killed Snoke for you. Because I wanted you.” He shook his head. “I should have killed him for my father. But I’m too selfish. My life is nothing without you.”

Rey’s heart swelled and ached at the misery he still felt about his father.

“I don’t know what to say Ben. I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to help you but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let them all die. I came to save them too.”

Ben shuddered. “You can’t save me.” He pulled away from her embrace and leaned back against the wall again, his eyes dark and sad. He regarded her in despair, a place she knew he often dwelt.

“I was so in love with the idea of you. I forgot that…I know I hurt you. You ran away because I made you hate me for what I said. What I did.”

“Ben I don’t hate you. I found in you the one person who I could talk to about things I would never talk to anyone else about. My life was a waste, an empty place. I couldn’t keep holding on to that story anymore. You made me see that. But the Resistance,” she looked at him here but he didn’t react. She decided against mentioning Leia as well and continued. “They’ve been good to me. I believe in them. I can’t turn my back on them.” She reached out and tangled her fingers in the tips of his hair and looked into his unhappy face, his dark liquid eyes staring into hers, turning her to liquid too. As always she saw that little glimmer of hope that still lived in him. That little flame that if kindled would warm the empty place in her heart where he’d first snuck into it on Ahch-To.

“These past two years, even though we’ve been apart, you’ve still been there. I’ve just been waiting…because, you know, that’s what I do. I wait for people to come back. But unlike my parents you’re real. You’re worth waiting for.”

A soft little gasp came from between Ben’s lips, his eyes soft and simmering as they roamed her face, flitting to her lips and back to her eyes. His hand found hers and their fingers laced together. It seemed that the storm clouds were never far away though. Rey could feel doubt and hope at war as uncertainty filled his gaze. Rey was worried the doubts would win so she did something she wasn’t sure was right but at least it said something more than she could say with words.

She pushed her fingers into his hair, her thumb feathering along the curve of his cheekbone. His eyes darkened and his lips parted. She cupped the other side of his face with her other hand and leaned in. She paused for moment, unsure of herself, until she felt the light pressure of Ben’s hand on the curve of her waist.

It was only meant to be a brief kiss of reassurance but when her lips brushed across his they both shivered in delight, electricity sparking between them again, stronger even. Her eyes drifted shut as she leaned in to close her mouth over his, wondering at the softness as his lips fused to hers. She had once touched the fine velvet of one of Leia’s amazing gowns and it seemed his lips were more sumptuous than even such a rich fabric. She was a rough dessert girl, who hadn’t lost much of that roughness in her life with the Resistance. He felt like silk and fine leather with sweet wine full of exotic scents and flavours. She wanted to drink him in and twist in his embrace as the beat of their hearts kept them in sync like the drums of a Tuanul star dance.

Rey’s head began to spin as Ben responded with equal hunger. She reveled in the feel of Ben’s arms sliding about her, holding her to his broad chest. She could have let him devour her right there.

They were interrupted by the bleating of an emergency comm call. The kiss stopped but they didn’t pull away. Rey would have ignored it had the sound of running feet not come from the hallway. Rey tilted away and their lips parted. She looked into Ben’s eyes and her heart stalled when she saw heat and hunger to match her own. She sucked in her bottom lip, biting it and tasting him there. She slid her hands from his hair, leaving it erotically disheveled about his beautiful face. It was all she could do not to throw caution to the wind and claim his voluptuous mouth again.

The emergency comm bleated again and this time Rey moved away, stifling a growl of frustration.

The footsteps stopped and there was a moment of stillness before Reif’s quizzical voice broke the silence.

“What happened?” He was looking directly at where Ben and Rey sat _together_ next to the wall. Rey cast a quick glance at Ben and nearly died at how _kissed_ he looked. Rey took a steadying breath. At least it wasn’t Finn who’d nearly busted them. She was sure that Reif could see the heat swarming across her face but was determined to pretend that _nothing_ was going on.

“Oh, Ben’s just a little tired.” She nearly died again at the breathy sound of her voice.

“Oh right.” The boy’s innocent helpfulness plucked at her heart. She didn’t dare look at Ben but she knew he was amused by her bad acting skills. “He can sleep on one of the bunks in there if he wants,” Reif continued, pointing to a room down the corridor.

Reif appeared to think nothing more of it as he bounced over to a wall panel, hit a button and brought up a console. Rey decided she could use the distraction. She had pretty much figured out by now that they were in some kind of space ship, she just wasn’t sure how it got to be in the middle of a mountain. Or how the boy had so successfully rigged his own systems into it.

A hologram of another boy’s face appeared wearing a uniform that was familiar to Rey and Ben. Ben stiffened and sat up straight. The hologram spoke in tense and hushed tones.

“Reif. We have to get everyone on the link. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is dead.”

“What?”

“Kylo Ren is dead. Hux is…this is bad. We have to get everyone together.”

“Um, yeah. That could take a while. It’s an unscheduled link. Where are you?”

“I’m on the Supremacy. We’re heading back to the rendezvous point. Reif, we need to speak with Temiri and Denea.”

Rey could feel it as Reif started working the console, his concentration intensifying and yes, he was pulling on the force. She looked at Ben and he looked at her. They both felt it.

“I’ll contact you again when I have everyone. May the force be with you,” Reif said. The hologram disappeared.

Ben sat up and took on a cross legged loosely meditative posture. He regarded the boy for a moment but then pursed his lips. “Hux will have no mercy if he takes power,” he said.

Rey squared with him and looked him in the eye, pitching her voice low for just the two of them. “You had no mercy up til now. How is this going to be any different?” His eyes slipped down and away, his face flaming as his mouth puckered, biting the inside of his lip. She’d noticed he did that when he was uncertain. He looked up.

“I don’t deny I have made decisions that I…I had never thought I would make.” He breathed in then looked back into her eyes. “There are many things I regret.” He took another breath, ragged at first but calming as his eyes narrowed.

“Hux’ only regret is that he did not kill me sooner. He wants power and he will rip the First Order apart to get it.” He pushed himself to his feet.

“Ben, what are you saying,” Rey said. He looked at her. His eyes narrowed and a little of his old bitterness crept back into his voice as he spoke.

“If the Resistance wants to see the First Order fall then it should sit back and wait.”

 

 

Rose spread her fingers wide, stretching them and then relaxed. The nerves subsided only a little. Slowly she reached out and entered the last of her commands into the computer and stood back.

“Ready for testing at your order General,” she said. Leia smiled and nodded. “Test away.”

Rose took a breath and hit the final switch to engage the new ship-wide cloaking device. It had taken her more than a year to finally hit the correct calibration of the kynear crystals, a stable synthetic crystal with similar properties to stygium and hibridium crystals. When she’d found the description of the technology in her mother’s tiny journal, one of the few things she and Paige had been able to rescue from their home, she had gone straight to the General.

There was a hum and then silence. She looked around. It seemed entirely unimpressive given what she had just done. She huffed and hit the comm.

“Commander Jolu. Run your decloaking scan.” A moment of silence. A scratchy voice came back.

“I still get a signature.”

Rose slumped. Leia looked down for a moment but then she turned to her and smiled. Rose saw the gentle sympathy in her eyes but knew it was a cover for the disappointment underneath. Leia wanted this to work too. Rose shook her head and kicked the foot of the console in front of her. She was letting everyone down.

A little green light blinked at her. Rose stared at it in disbelief for a second. How could she have been so silly? She flicked that one last switch and grabbed the comm again.

“Commander, can you run that scan one more time please.”

Leia blinked and sat back, holding her breath it seemed to Rose and trying not to be hopeful. The moments ticked away as this time Commander Jolu took his time getting back to her. Rose realised she was shaking as she reached for the half amulet about her neck.

This time Leia spoke into the comm.

“Commander Jolu. Did you hear us? Engineer Tico asked for one last…”

“Yes, yes.” There was excitement in his voice. “It’s working. I can’t detect anything. I’m still running different scans but so far they’re all coming up negative. The last one’s coming in now.” There was a beat of silence as Rose tried unsuccessfully to keep the smile off her face.

“The final scan is negative.”

Rose let out a whoop of pure joy.

“You’ve done it Rose. The ship is completely undetectable. No matter what I do. I can find no trace of it.”

The sound of applause made Rose blush. The little life in her chose that time to kick and she froze, putting a hand to her stomach. The applause also stilled. Rose grinned.

“He’s happy too,” she said. Laughter and more applause rose up again. Rose sat back down and looked at Leia and they shared a relieved grin. This new cloaking device meant everything. All it would take now was to get all their ships to modify and recalibrate the new device. This would likely take less than a day once all the engineers received their instructions. Best of all, the cloaking device thwarted the First Order’s active tracking abilities. The only way to track a cloaked ship was the old fashioned way, with a beacon, and that only once they decloaked out the other side.

There was genuine happiness and, dare she think it, hope on the bridge.

“General.”

Rose and Leia turned to see C3PO shuffling towards them. Leia frowned.

“Yes 3PO.”

“A message has just come through one of my…err…channels.” He came close to Leia and lowered his voice but Rose could still hear what he said.

“I have yet to verify it but I…General it says that Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is dead.”

All of Rose’s joy turned to ashes as she watched this final straw break the strongest woman she’d ever known.

 

 

Quick, precise steps rang out on the obsidian floor as the attendant grew closer to the massive doors at the end of the hallway. He tried not to think of who was behind those doors. He had a job to do and it was better to carry it out as efficiently as possible.

The soundless doors swung open as he approached. He continued his trajectory to the raised dais upon which a horizontal tank lay. It wasn’t just any tank though, its design intended for a specific purpose. Its inner workings able to receive and sustain life until the cloned body inside was ready to wield that life bequeathed to it.

“My Lord.”

The blue grainy light of a hologram appeared above the tank and grew, its size dwarfing him. He did not quite look up at the face above him, making it only to the embroidered neckline of the sumptuous robe his master’s image wore. The face that hovered above was no longer ugly to look at. It was those eyes. Eyes that knew too much about him. Eyes that saw him as a beetle to be trodden on if his master was displeased. Eyes that burned with a furious presence and an icy blue calm.

“Why do you disturb my rest?”

“My Lord. I have received notification that General Hux has used order one two five.”

His master was silent for a moment.

“Was the order successful?”

“General Hux has declared that Kylo Ren is dead and has assumed the title of Supreme Leader.”

His master sneered. “I will need better evidence than the presumptuous words of a fool.”

“Yes My Lord.”

A beat of silence.

“What news of the Jedi.”

“Hux claims that the Jedi was killed at the same time as Kylo Ren.”

His master closed his eyes for a moment, his face tilting upwards as if in search of something invisible. The terrible eyes opened again and settled once more on their servant.

“Summon the Knights of Ren.” A smile, as cruel as it was hungry spread across the humanoid face. “They will soon be reminded of their true master.”

The attendant paused, sensing his master wished to say something further.

“Darkness will rise again and this time there will be no light to meet it.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a teaser for those who have been reading this fic. I have restarted the fic as "We Belong". Go here to read it https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681426/chapters/36433473. Thanks to my beta reader @colliderofhadron for all your wonderful help in improving this fic.

Rey could feel Ben watching her. It felt as though Kylo was watching her, too. Maybe the _real_ person was a mixture of both. This smouldering combination of gentle regard and dark hunger... it could make a girl’s head spin. 

Rey breathed in and out and focused her attention on Finn as he slept. Sidebolt and Grim had taken very good care of her friend and she was grateful for their intervention. If they hadn’t met Reif and his droids, her friend may not have fared so well. She sensed in the force that it wouldn’t take long for him to fully recover but of course, in spite of everything they’d done, there were things only rest could cure. Finn wasn’t going anywhere yet and so she wasn’t going anywhere either.

Rey needed to be there for her friend when he regained consciousness. She didn’t want him waking up the way he did last time: confused, worried and inclined to do crazy stuff when he thought he had to be a hero. Rose needed him to stay alive.

In spite of her good intentions, her curious mind drifted back to heated thoughts of Ben’s lips against hers. She knew she was hiding from the reality of that kiss, from how quickly it had gotten out of hand. She was certain she had only initiated it for altruistic reasons, to comfort, to show caring and compassion. To show him she didn’t hate _him_ , but that she was just mad with some of his decisions.

That kiss had set her ablaze faster than a canister of rhydonium fuel and a blaster shot. She still felt feverish. Every time she thought of his mouth moving against hers, his hands sliding around her back, waves of heat washed over her.

She tried not to look at Ben, a distracting and striking silhouette of black as he leaned casually against the wall on the other side of the medical bay near the door, but of course she failed. He looked like an indolent predator and, the moment she chanced an illicit peek at him, his gaze zeroed in on hers like two people in a mirror. The hint of a smirk playing around his full lips resurrected the cooling blush on her cheeks until she thought she might expire from her own fevered imagination. She took yet another surreptitious calming breath.

She could feel him though – staring at her with that barely concealed hunger. Nearly two years ago now, before it all fell apart, there had been gentle touches and reassurances…except for that one look right after the fight with Snoke’s red guards. The look that said he was going to come after her and devour her alive. That was how he was looking at her this very minute, and it was making her just as nervous now as it had then. 

Not the sort of nervous she felt when the Resistance was scouting out a new location or possible contact. Not nervous, like when she was edging around Poe’s digging about what really went down on Ahch-To. Or nervous about what was going to be served next in the cantina.

But the ‘she-could-do-something-crazy’ kind of nervous. Or the ‘she-might-not be-able-to-handle-that-kind-of-passion’ nervous. Or maybe she was worried that she _could_ handle that kind of passion and _would_ …do something crazy.

Like kiss the Supreme Leader senseless. Rey covered her eyes with a hand and tried not to groan at how imprudent she had been.  

No. Bad idea. Even without looking at him, she could still see the full curves of his mouth and those softly burning eyes, all mixed together with the exotic taste and smell of him…

_You’re thinking about that kiss._

Rey jumped, her hand jerking away her face to stare at him. His still-hungry stare met hers and a hundred baby porgs fluttered about her stomach, their tiny wings seeming to rush up and sweep the air from her lungs. She yanked her gaze away from his and stared at Finn’s bandaged wound instead, crossing her arms across her chest. It was as though he’d spoken aloud. He may as well have. She’d been broadcasting _her_ thoughts like she had a loudhailer in her head.

_I can’t stop thinking about it too._

His voice was warm and ethereal in her mind, setting her pulse to hyperspeed and her blush to sizzling.

She felt a touch, a tender grazing of fingertips across her bottom lip. Rey shivered, her eyes drifting half closed and her body sagging towards the medical bed as she revelled in that touch, it’s gentle pressure curving around to trace her top lip.

“I think it’s safe to go outside now,” Reif announced as he bounded noisily through the doorway. Rey nearly collapsed on the floor, dizzy with desire, as the touch hastily withdrew. She gripped the medical bed and tried to send Ben a dark look, but neither could meet each other’s eyes under the innocent gaze of the boy. Probably a good thing she didn’t look at him, it would have been the wrong kind of dark look right now.

 The awkward tension in the air was broken a moment later, when Ben spoke first. “Great. I should go and see what happened to my ship.” He turned to snatch up his cowl and hastily pulled it back over his head and shoulders. Rey chewed on her tingling lip, gawking at him as he flustered around for a moment before turning towards the door.

He turned to look back at Rey, his eyes offering an unspoken invitation to join him. She wanted to go, to talk, but without little ears listening in. She shook her head and looked down, ignoring that treacherous feeling of disappointment – besides, she didn’t want Finn to awaken whilst she wasn’t there.

“I’m coming with you,” Reif said enthusiastically. Ben raised an eyebrow as he peered down at the enthusiastic youngling.

“I thought you were waiting for your friends to call back.”

Reif frowned and then looked out at the comm in the main room. “We’ve probably got some time before they get back to us.”

“You go.” Rey said. “I’ll let you know if they call.”  A bit of breathing room would do them both good.

Ben nodded and directed a hint of a smile towards Reif, inclining his head towards the door. Rey observed a gentle curiosity in Ben’s eyes as he watched the boy run ahead, as though he’d found something special, and smiled to herself as she watched them leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please go to "We Belong" https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681426/chapters/36433473 for the rewrite and continuation of the this fic.


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